Tommie Lee Jackson Jr. speaks during a ceremony on Thursday naming the Northwest Moultrie swimming pool in his honor. (Wayne Grandy/The Moultrie Observer)

MOULTRIE – Before the northwest Moultrie pool was opened in 1959, Tommie Lee Jackson Jr. had already honed his strokes at area ponds.
And, according to longtime friend Averett Jordan, he become so proficient a swimmer that his friends had come to calling him “Fish.”
On Thursday, the remodeled pool that is just blocks from his boyhood home, was dedicated as the Tommie Lee Jackson Jr. Aquatic Center.
The longtime swimming coach and 2023 inductee into the Georgia Aquatic Hall of Fame was on hand as he was honored in front of friends, family and students at the pool, located at 605 Sixth Ave. NW, adjacent to the A.F. Shaw Gymnasium.
“Who could have imagined that the young boy diving off the board here would go on to help change the face of swimming, not only in Moultrie but across the country,” said City Council and Moultrie-Colquitt County Parks and Recreation Authority board member Wilma Hadley.
“Tommie’s story is one of dedication, resilience and purpose.”
The William Bryant High, Albany State and Georgia State graduate embarked on a coaching career at age 40 that produced champions at the junior, senior, masters, Paralympic and Olympic levels.
Still active as a coach, Jackson has been involved in promoting diversity and inclusion in swimming and has been the chair of the Georgia Local Swimming Committees’ Diversity Committee since it was formed.
In 2016, he was the first coach of color to receive USA Swimming’s Diversity and Inclusion Award and four years later was presented the Jim Ellis Diversity in Aquatics Award.
Also that year, he was honored at the 30th annual Black History Invitational Swim Meet held in Washington, D.C., for working to increase diversity in swimming.
And in 2023, he was inducted into the Georgia Aquatic Hall of Fame.
Jackson said his career path started at the pool that was just three blocks from his home at 435 Ninth St. NW.
“There was something about that water,” he said. “This is where I learned to swim, to compete and where I learned to teach swimming.”
Jackson also was a fine high school football and basketball player while growing up in Moultrie.
After graduating, he served three years in the U.S. Army, including a year in combat in Viet Nam.
After mustering out, he attended Albany State University from 1972-1976, where he lettered as a swimmer and a diver and graduated cum laude.
While at Albany State, he was encouraged by instructor Wilburn Campbell to continue to make a career in aquatics.
“He believed in me,” Jackson said, looking at Campbell, who attended the dedication. “He gave me the opportunity to be a competitive diver at age 25.”
Campbell also encouraged Jackson to believe in himself.
Jackson went on to earn a master’s degree in education at Georgia State.
He taught elementary school in Adel and worked at Fort Valley State as a physical education instructor.
He also taught at Heath Slater Elementary School and at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Atlanta.
In 1986, he was named the assistant coach of the Atlanta Dolphins swim team and three years later became its head coach.
Among the outstanding athletes he coached was Curtis Lovejoy, considered the country’s most outstanding Paralympian.
Lovejoy, who was coached by Jackson for 36 years, broke 12 world records, five Pan Am records and 14 U.S. records.
In 2013, Lovejoy was inducted into the Georgia Aquatic Hall of Fame.
Jackson was named an “Icon of Paralympics” by USA Swimming in 2002.
In 2016, he was selected to coach Naomi Grand-Pierre, who represented Haiti in the Rio Olympics in the 50-meter breaststroke and 50-meter freestyle events.
He also coached Marianne Countryman, one of USA’s top masters swimmers, from 2012-2023.
Jackson also helped develop U.S. Olympic Trials qualifiers Sabir Muhammad, Muhajid El Amin, Derek Cox and Myles Simon.
Jackson gives credit for much of his success to lessons he learned from Campbell.
“He told me he gave me a gift and that I should use that gift to help mankind,” Jackson said. “And I’ve tried to help mankind with the knowledge and skills I have been blessed with.”
Jackson said swimming is just the vehicle he uses to help educate people about life.
He said he tries to teach his young swimmers values such as trustworthiness, honesty, commitment and dedication.
“Those are what make a successful life,” he said.
Jackson and wife Delores have five children. He has two sisters, Elaine Daniels and Ophelia Lyles, who live in Moultrie.
And although his wife and others continue to ask him if he is ready to retire, he has made it clear he is not ready yet.