MOULTRIE — Ron Piemonte wants to savor his last meet as the coach of the Moss Farms Diving Tigers, but he was having a hard time of it on Thursday.

After spending a couple hours on the pool deck calling out instruction to his 15 young divers who are preparing for the Junior Summer East Champion-ships that open today at the Moose Moss Aquatic Center, Piemonte sat down in a chair behind his desk, looking a bit pale for a man who spends so much time out in the sunshine.

Seems Piemonte had been up much of the night before, dealing with the effects of an apparent bout of food poisoning.

But even his time spent in his office above the dryland training facility was hardly restful.

Not only did he spend some time talking about his group of divers who over the next four days will seek berths in the Junior Nation-als, he also had to spend some time on the telephone seeking a clarification on a eligibility matter.

“I wish I felt better,” Piemonte muttered.

But he did brighten when asked about the program he has led since being named to succeed Wenbo Chen in December 2001.

Piemonte resigned as the Moss Farms coach in May to take over as head coach at Virginia Tech.

At the time, he agreed to stay on and coach the young divers through the Summer East Championships.

Piemonte will turn over the reins of the program to Ed Goodman, who has been his assistant for eight months, following Sunday’s conclusion of the East Championships.

It is likely to be a heart-felt farewell.

“It will be very emotional,” said Piemonte. “These are kids I have known and spent a lot of time with.

“Sometimes, I may have spent as much time with them as their parents have.”

Over the last four-plus years, Piemonte has been instrumental in developing such young outstanding Moss Farms divers as Hannah Moore, Ryan Helms, Eric Winnard, Ann Perry Blank, Anna Aguero, Ali Lepech, Maddie Qurnell, Jillian Braun, Nic Price, Jacob Russell, Owen Blank, Staci Howard, Carly Moore, Elizabeth Ann Kirkland, Henry Norman, Dean Benton, Tevin Hightower and his own children, Leah and Ronnie Piemonte.

During his time in Moultrie, he produced four East National champions, two YMCA National champions, three high school state champions and had three different divers qualify for international competitions.

Piemonte came to Moultrie from the Tualatin Hills Dive Club in Beaverton, Ore., where he spent 10 years as the head coach.

With 15 of his divers competing in this week’s Summer East Champion-ships and a number of them having excellent chances to qualify for Junior Nationals, Piemonte has a chance to go out in style.

And he fully expects to run into a number of his divers at other high-level competitions down the road.

“Like I told them, this is not good-bye,” he said. “It’s ‘see you later.’

“This group has been very close and very special to me.”