Photos by Kyle Green | The Roanoke Times

Competitors in the 6-and-under 25-yard freestyle dive and jump at the start of the event at the Roanoke Valley Aquatic Association 2008 city-county meet.

Kit Williams gives diving advice to Sydney Robinson prior to the girls' 7-year-old 25-yard freestyle.

Carter T. Barnes (left) prepares for the start of the boys' 7-8 25-yard freestyle at the Salem YMCA on Friday. Many of the kids in this age group are able to dive at the start of their races.

Don't be fooled by the absence of diving boards at the Salem YMCA.

There wouldn't have been a swim meet Friday without diving.

Frog dives, swan dives. Good dives, bad dives. Enough dives for a Dr. Seuss rhyme.

Entire heats of 6-and-under swims took place without any diving; that is, if the requirement for a dive is that it be head first.

"We work with the 6-and-unders on their dives, but many don't get it until [age] 7, even 8," said Mary Delaney, head coach at Roanoke Country Club. "Really, I hope that all the 8-year-olds can dive. And it does make a difference in the races."

Roanoke Country Club has a 4-year-old who can dive headfirst, Caroline Summerlin. Some might attribute that to her swimming pedigree.

Parents Dan and Shannon Summerlin swam at the University of North Carolina, but their two older daughters weren't diving when they were four.

"My mom's worked really hard with Caroline," said Shannon Summerlin, whose mother, Marcia Barry, helps with the Roanoke 6-and-unders. "She's really the one who deserves the credit."

Hunting Hills coach Sheri Vaughn, whose team had the lead after Friday's events in the Roanoke Valley Aquatic Association city-county meet, agrees that a good dive can make a huge difference but is sometimes overlooked.

"We spend so much time on getting their strokes legal that diving tends to fall by the wayside," she said.

How do you teach kids to dive anyway?

"The problems with the beginners is that they go straight down," said Mich Peters, the coach at North Lakes. "So we use a noodle and work on going over it. With the older ones, we use a Hula Hoop."

"Hmm, a Hula Hoop," Vaughn observed. "I hadn't thought of that. That's a great idea!"

Not everybody is old enough to remember hula hoops.

"Oh, I've used hula hoops," said Vaughn, who competes in the 40-49 age group, "just not for diving."

There is a bit of a fear factor, especially at sites like the Salem YMCA and Radford's Dedmon Center pool, home to the city-county meet for years before it was closed for repairs to the roof this summer. If they're not higher than the norm, Peters said, they seem that way.

"I do sense a bit of peer pressure in going from the side [as opposed to] going from the blocks," RCC's Delaney said. "Most of the kids are dying to go off the blocks.

"We have spent a lot of time convincing our younger ones that their starts are better from the side than the blocks, but the blocks seem to have a magical allure."

Even her older swimmers are mesmerized by the blocks.

"Before all the away meets, the swimmers ask what the blocks will be like at the meet," Delaney said. "They want to know the height, the slant, their slickness. They are very inquisitive."

Vaughn said the difference between a smooth, head-first dive and a feet-first jump can be as much as two body lengths. In a 25-yard race, that can be insurmountable.

But, how many 6-and-unders can do a head-first dive? There are more than 35 6-and-under swimmers on the Hunting Hills team, and Vaughn can count the number of head-first divers on one hand.

"Off the top of my head, I can think of one or two who can dive well," she said.

In the RVAA, which could be described as a recreation league, occasionally there will be a teenager for whom diving is a problem. But, most swimmers who compete as 6-and-unders will be diving successfully by the time they're 7 or 8.

"You see a kid who's at the pool all day playing," Vaughn said, "and a lot of the time, those are the best divers."

However, it can be maddening for both would-be diver and coach.

"I have yet to find a real tried and true method," Delaney said. "It just seems like you practice and practice and practice, then it just clicks one time and they get 'it.'"

Records

Noah Bowers of Elks Club and Keith Myburgh of Spring Run each broke two records, respectively, in the 6-and-under boys' and 7-8 boys' divisions. In addition, Alex Vance of Castle Rock broke the record for the 100-yard individual medley in the 13-14 boys' division and Chris John broke his 1-year-old 50 backstroke record in the 25-39 men's division. Bowers knocked more than a second off records for the 25 backstroke and 25 freestyle.