Trip Gregory of Moss Farms Diving Tigers executes a dive.

Moss Farms Diving, a staple of Colquitt County for decades, is how many people all over the world view this small southwest Georgia community. It will host the best this sport has to offer from various points of the globe, even if they just want to catch a glimpse at the facilities. More often than not, it’s those Moss Farms divers going here and there to take on the world’s best. People in the diving community know they have something to contend with from a Diving Tiger.

The Moose Moss Aquatic Center is recognized as a world class training facility. Any Diving Tiger willing to travel back and forth from home for training, or relocate the entire family to Moultrie for that one reason, will tell you that. Moss Farms training leads to anything from a high school state championship to qualification for the USA Diving Junior Nationals to a college scholarship at the major NCAA Division I institutions to well know competitions such as the Pan-Am Games and the Olympics.

Moss Farms was selected to hold USA Diving’s Junior and Senior National Championships in 2016. The meet drew nearly 600 divers and 200 coaches and was estimated to have had a $4 million economic impact on the community. It’s the third time USA Diving Nationals appeared in Moultrie.

Moss started the program in 1964 when he built a pool next to his home near Doerun and began teaching diving to his children. Soon other youngsters showed up wanting to learn the sport from the former World War II pilot and successful Colquitt County farmer. Moss had built a nationally-known youth diving program before he was instrumental in helping raise the more than $1 million for the building of the diving facility that now bears his name.

Moose Moss, who has had a number of national diving awards named in his honor, died just months after the facility opened in 1993.

The diving well has played host to numerous regional and national events over the years and was selected by several national teams to help them prepare for the 1996 Olympics held in Atlanta.

The recently renovated Moose Moss Aquatic Center’s diving well includes its eight springboards, five towers and state-of-the-art equipped 6,000-foot dryland facility. The renovations through the Moultrie-Colquitt County Recreation Authority have set the Moss Farms Diving program up for success for many years to come.

Head Coach Tom Gimm believes that it is truly one of the finest diving facilities in the world.

Gimm attributes the support of the MCCPRA and the Moultrie YMCA to the team’s overall success the past few seasons.

In 2023, Moss Farms finished in the top 12 at the Junior National Diving Champions with three gold medal and one bronze medal finish and had multiple finalists.

In 2022, the Diving Tigers took third place overall at the Junior National Championships where they also won four more junior national titles.

In 2021, the Diving Tigers won the Men’s USA Diving Junior National Championships and placed third overall at the USA Diving Junior Nationals.

The team was also represented at the USA Diving Olympic Trials, where Carson Tyler reached the finals in two events on the country’s biggest stage.

The program has a rich history of excellence that is traced back to the legendary former Flying Tiger Robert C. “Moose” Moss and numerous coaching successors, the program has produced:

• 33 Junior Olympic National Champions.

• 9 Senior National Champions.

• 8 International Champions.

• 11 Can-Am-Mex Champions.

• 50+ YMCA Champions (That’s more than any YMCA in the world!).

• 54 Georgia High School State Champions.

• AAU national champions.

• Six members of the Georgia Aquatic Hall of Fame.