MOULTRIE – It was a leap of faith for young Johanna Holloway and her entire family.

After competing in and winning first place in the 2016 USA Diving Nationals at the Moose Moss Aquatic Center, Holloway saw something she liked in the Diving Tigers program. The Ft. Lauderdale resident at the time saw something that would enhance her budding career in the sport. Late last year, Holloway became a Diving Tiger.

“It kind of shocked John (Fox) and I,” said head coach Chris Heaton about Holloway’s desire to train with Moss Farms. “You just won a national title, now you want to relocate? We’re glad she’s here adding some positive facets to the team and making kids step up to the plate a little bit.”

“My family took a leap of faith,” said Holloway before training indoors on Thursday. “We’re only here for two years until I go off to college. My dad is still in Ft. Lauderdale, and my mom came up here and we bought a house.

“They have one of the best (diving) facilities in the country. The coaches have so much enthusiasm. It’s amazing.”

And Holloway added it’s been everything she thought it would be.

“As far as her talent level, she is nowhere near her potential,” said Heaton. “She’s going to the next level. I realistically see her being on the 2020 Olympic team if not 2024. She’s that caliber of a diver.”

So much so that Holloway took part in her first international diving competition late last year in Kazan, Russia. It was the FINA World Junior Championships.

“There are no real expectations for your first international competition,” she said. “It’s a much bigger field than I could have ever expected. I went on 3-meter, which is not my best. I’m better in (platform). I was a bit out of my element, but it was a great experience. I learned a lot.”

There’s something else unique about Holloway in that she brings experience in synchronized diving to Moss Farms. Next week, she will take part in the USA Synchronized Diving championships at Georgia Tech. It’s an event she dove in the last two years and was a winner in platform. She was at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Trials for synchronized as well as individual platform.

“We go at the same time,” said Holloway putting this discipline in her own words. “We’re doing the same dive, unless it’s super complicated, then we do different dives in the opposite direction.

“What I’m going to be doing in Atlanta is mixed synchro off the 10-meter. My synchro partner is from Texas. This is our second year competing. We train together once or twice a year. You get timed up. You count before you go. You make sure that’s all together.

“It was just a really fun competition. That made me want to do it again.”

In addition to Holloway, Sky Geovanni of the Diving Tigers will be at the U.S. Synchronized Nationals. His partner is from the Georgia Diving Club in Athens.

“We are going to look at doing more synchro in house, but our focus is first and foremost individually before you start focusing on synchro,” said Heaton. “As divers get better, synchro is just going to happen.”

Holloway, much like another diver still training with Moss Farms – Chase Lane of Tallahassee, Fla. – started her athletic career in gymnastics. She developed a concern that most gymnasts end up injured, so she took up diving and was able to build a strong foundation for the sport.

“It’s the foundation for my life as well,” said Holloway. “My safe place.”

There’s more travel for diving in Holloway’s future. On May 19-21, she will be at the World Championship Trials in Indianapolis for platform.

“I think I could do well,” she said. “I’m not sure I will qualify, but I think it could be a great experience. I’m very young, so anything is a great experience.”

Finally, Holloway will be a part of Team USA at the FINA Grand Prix in Madrid, Spain, May 26-28.

“I’m going to be doing all my optionals, which are all my hard dives,” she said.

After all these months, what are Holloway’s impressions of Moultrie, coming from South Florida?

“Everyone says there’s not much to do in Moultrie,” she said. “But the thing is I never did much in Ft. Lauderdale. I went to school, went to diving, and that’s it. But, I have fun here.”

DIVING SEASON UNDERWAY

It was eight months ago when Moultrie was buzzing with divers from all over the United States for the USA Diving nationals. Since then, while the competition schedule has not been as loaded, Moss Farms Diving Tigers continued training for a new season. There was a break after the national meet plus holiday time off for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Otherwise, diving training is a year-round effort, and at the Moose Moss Aquatic Center that’s made easier with the dry-land facility inside.

“Right now we’re getting ready to really focus on lists,” said Heaton. “All of our fundamentals and all of our new dives. We are going to transition over to polishing, perfecting and getting ready to compete.”

There were two major diving events so far in 2017 involving Moss Farms, both in Florida. There was the All-Star meet in Orlando and, at the end of March, the YMCA Nationals in Ft. Lauderdale. It was in this latter competition that some Diving Tigers excelled so much that their spot in this year’s USA Diving Nationals is already set.

“For March, so early in the season, I think we looked great,” said Hinton.

“I would agree,” said assistant coach John Fox.

“I think some kids just started competing a lot better,” said Hinton. “People were just polished. And they were having fun. There were several factors that went into it. It was exciting to watch.”

Looking up and down the list of those who represented Moss Farms at the YMCA, there are names of those who were in the USA Diving Nationals in the home facility but who are now competing in a higher age bracket. That would include Ruth Anne McCranie, now in 12-13, and she won the 3-meter springboard and the 1-meter.

“I think we still have a few divers who are kind of ‘deer in the headlights,'” said Heaton. “But I think they are doing a good job handling it. As we continue to compete, they will get more comfortable in their age group. From a talent standpoint, we are doing very well.”

In all, Moss Farms divers won seven events at the YMCA, and they are qualified to go to the USA nationals for the preliminary dives. That group also includes Jet Geovanni in 11 & under platform, 1-meter and 3-meter, Nolan Lewis in 14-15 platform and Holloway in the 3-meter.

The national championships are in Heaton’s home state of Ohio at The Ohio State University.

“It takes a ton of pressure off,” said Heaton. “We can go into zone championships now and execute smaller things we’re working on.”

And that Zone B meet is taking place at the Moose Moss Aquatic Center June 21-25.

“I would say a conservative estimate would be 180 divers plus,” said Heaton about the Zone B crowd. “A more realistic estimate would be 200 to 220.”