Drew Johansen, left, the U.S. Olympic diving team coach, and Moss Farms Diving coach John Fox take a break during a clinic that Johansen, who is also the coach of the Indiana University diving team, conducted at the Moose Moss Aquatic Center.

MOULTRIE – U.S. Olympic diving team coach Drew Johansen spent several of his last few days stateside before heading to Tokyo holding a pair of camps at the Moose Moss Aquatic Center and developing his relationship with Moss Farms Diving’s young coach John Fox.

Despite preparing to take his team of divers, coaches and support staff to Japan for an Olympics already delayed a year by COVID and now threatened by a resurgence of the virus there, Johansen found time to spend with the rural South Georgia club that recently qualified 19 athletes for Junior Nationals.

The former U.S. National Team coach and current head coach at Indiana University, Johansen is heading to the Olympics for the third time as the U.S. diving team’s head coach.

Johansen said he enjoys putting on camps during the summer, but was unable to do so in 2020 when the pandemic shut down programs and facilities throughout the country.

But after the recent U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Indianapolis, Johansen set out on the road again.

And at the Moose Moss Aquatics Center, he and his staff were able to oversee two sessions that drew 39 divers, including Colquitt County’s Carson Tyler, who competed in the Olympic Trials in three events and also will perform for Johansen as a member of the Indiana swimming and diving team this year.

“He is fantastic,” Johansen said of Tyler, who has had an outstanding 2021. “We were excited to see him this summer. And excited to be able to see him in Bloomington in August.”

Johansen said Tyler “opened a lot of eyes at the Trials,” where he qualified for finals in both the platform and 3-meter synchro events.

Tyler entered Johansen’s radar when the young diver was touted by several members of the current Indiana team.

Johansen has been impressed with Tyler’s development over the last two years.

“The amount of improvement he has shown from the summer of 2019 to 2021 is exponential,” he said.

Johansen also looks for athletes who are as serious about school as they are diving and Tyler checks that box as well.

Fox has been promoting Tyler as well, noting the young diver’s focus and determination.

“He’s a man on a mission,” he said. “He has the mindset for it and the physique for it. And he holds himself to a higher expectation than others do.”

Johansen credits Fox with much of Tyler’s development.

“John has done a great job of setting a foundation of skills and bringing him along, not too fast and not too slow,” he said.

Fox’s influence is not shown just in Tyler’s rise, but in the number of Moss Farms divers who are able to compete on the national level.

“He has got a system of training that is moving kids properly through the progressions to make them nationally quality divers,” Johansen said. “And he is doing it a way that fits the culture of Moultrie and Colquitt County.”

Fox said the relationship with Johansen is vital to the continued development of a program built on the vision of Moose Moss and continue by such coaches as Jay Lerew, Wenbo Chen, Ron Piemonte, Ed Goodman and others.

“I’d be remiss if we miss the mark,” Fox said. “I’d feel responsible. It’s important to everyone here in our diving culture that I create relationships that help kids reach their potential and build on what Moose and Jay and others left here.

“It’s a gift to have all this.”

And, Fox added, “We have a great group right now.”

As a young coach, Johansen knew Moose Moss and visited what he calls the “diving paradise, diving oasis” in Moultrie.

He said what he sees transpiring is “part of Moose’s vision.”

Johansen was coaching at Florida Atlantic when he first visited Moultrie. After being at FAU from 1991-1995, he served as the head coach at Illinois State from 1999-2001. He then went on to a successful career at Duke before becoming just the third diving coach at Indiana in 2013.

He also was the head coach of the successful U.S. Elite Academy in Columbus, Ohio, where he won the U.S. Diving Junior Team title in 2005 and in 2006 and won both the Junior and Senior team championships.

He also was the U.S. Olympic team’s head coach in 2012 and 2016.

Johansen credits coaches such as Vince Panzano, Kenny Armstrong and Randy Ableman with his maturing as a coach and is endeavoring to pass along his knowledge to a younger generation that includes Fox and others.

“I hope that camps like the one in Moultrie will help share the information and knowledge we have,” he said.

Fox agreed, adding that the camp is utilizing the Moose Moss Aquatic Center to its fullest.

“And that, I think, was Moose’s vision,” he said.

Johansen is now in Tokyo with his team that includes Andrew Capobianco, Hailey Hernandez, Krysta Palmer, Jordan Windle, Tyler Downs, Michael Hixon, Jessica Parratto, Katrina Young, Alison Gibson, Brandon Loschiavo and Delaney Schnell.

Among the group’s support group is team leader Dan Laak, the former University of Georgia head diving coach.

The last year has been a difficult period for many who worked toward making the U.S. team for what was supposed to be the 2020 Olympic Games.

When the Tokyo Games were postponed by COVID last year, diving came to what Johansen characterized as “a screeching halt.”

Several divers who had Olympic aspirations were forced to give them up and move on. Others, with an additional year to prepare, thrived.

Some took to training in local lakes. Others stayed in shape as best they could.

Johansen built a make-shift dryland facility at his home to help his divers train and “do what we love to do.”

Now, those who have made the team face the prospect of competing in a venue without spectators in Tokyo.

For some young divers, performing without fans could mean less pressure.

Other divers thrive on competing in front of a crowd.

“It will be interesting to see COVID’s positive and negative effects,” Johansen said.

Despite the adversity that COVID has created, Johansen is optimistic about how his team will perform.

“I think we are in a good place,” Johansen said of the U.S. team. “We’ve got a good team. A very good team. We’ve got some veterans paired with some good, young talent.”