After six seasons, a plethora of City-County and Region titles, and multiple appearances in the state competition, Owensboro diver Georgia Warren’s high school career has come to a close. One of the most prestigious divers in OHS history, the senior ended this season after advancing to the semifinals of state, where she finished 19th.
It wasn’t quite how she wanted to end her career, having reached the state finals and finishing 13th the year before, but she attributed her set back to struggling on her first three dives. Still, she was pleased with her back one somersault with one and a half twists.
“I get very anxious when I go to state, and if I mess up one little thing, it makes me mad, and then I can’t really calm down, and it makes me worse,” Warren said. “… I was moving up one place each round and by the time they cut down to 16, I was at 17, and then I got pushed down to 19th.”
Warren still has plenty of success to look back on as one of the most decorated divers in OHS history. Joining the team as a 7th-grader six years ago, Warren evolved from a newcomer to a dominant performer — winning five 2nd Region titles and advancing to the state tournament every year of her career. As an 8th-grader, she broke the City-County school record that had stood for 14 years. She also broke OHS’s record for most points in a six-dive and 11-dive meet.
Watching her older sister Abby compete in both swimming and diving, Warren chose to follow in her footsteps and joined the team when she became eligible. Since she was completely new to the sport of diving when she arrived at Owensboro in the 2019-2020 season, coach Don Clark took Warren under his wing.
“Abby told me that Georgia wouldn’t be diving if she didn’t like you the way she likes you,” Clark said.
From day one, Clark instantly realized he had a special talent on his hands in Warren. As a former cheerleader in middle school, flipping and twisting off the diving board was second nature.
“She definitely has a natural acrobatic type of ability that you can’t teach,” Clark said. “You can teach stretching, pointing your toes, getting tight, and looking strong and pretty, but it’s really hard for kids to get up there and do a flip.”
Living and breathing diving starting her 7th-grade year, Warren’s hard work paid off a few months later at the 2nd region tournament — winning her first of five region titles.
“They were announcing awards, and after third and second, I thought I didn’t place,” Warren said. “Then they announced my name for first, and I was shocked.”
Clark and Warren’s mother, Wendy, reminisced about Georgia getting off to a rocky start at the state tournament, just to bounce back and narrowly miss the top 16 cut as a 7th grader.
But for Georgia, one of her fondest memories stemmed from a painful mistake.
“I was doing an inward dive, and I hit my neck,” Georgia said. “I came out of the water laughing, and coach Clark asked if I realized I was bleeding. There is blood just going all the way down, and I was just laughing the entire time.”
This was just a testament to the type of athlete she is — not afraid to put her body on the line. She stated that divers can’t be scared, and many are worried to smack the water or worse, the board; but according to Warren, it doesn’t hurt that bad.
With her high school diving career behind her, Warren is undecided if she wants to compete at the collegiate level. For now, she plans to enjoy the stress-free environment of being a kid again.
“I always stress before the season starts because I don’t want to struggle,” Warren said. “I now have a weight off of my shoulders.”
When asked what she’s going to miss the most about her diving career, she smiled and pointed across the table to her longtime coach, Clark.
