Diving in

Molly Carlson may be a future Olympian, but that doesn’t mean her diving coach, Mike Lang, doesn’t still think of his star protégé as a young girl.

But at 12, Carlson, fresh off a fifth-place finish at the Pan-American Junior Games In Medillon, Colombia, Thunder Bay’s own little red-headed girl is starting to grow up.

“Don’t you want to go with her?” Lang said Tuesday to Molly’s mother, Kat Cuthbertson, after her daughter performed a short diving exhibition for Thunder Bay Television, then headed for the showers.

“She just travelled all the way from Colombia on her own. I think she’ll be OK,” Cuthbertson replied.

Stepping on the world stage for the first time, Carlson did more than OK, scoring 299.80 in the girls three-metre dive competition, placing behind two Americans and two Mexicans in the 12-13 age category.

“It was a really good experience,” she said Tuesday, her first day back to the classroom this fall. “I dove outside for the first time and it was really fun. Just being with the Canada team too, it was really cool.”

Carlson tried not to set too many goals heading into the event, which pits the top athletes from North and South America against each other in competition.

“The competition was really tough and to be against Brazil and Mexico and the USA was really cool, it was really cool to finish fifth.”

“My goal was to dive as best as I could and I was really happy with my results because all my dives were really good. I was diving with a different coach, so that was a cool experience too. She was really fun to hang out with and good in competition,” Carlson said.

Along the way, she picked up a few tips she thinks will help her get even better.

“She taught me especially to keep my legs together,” she said, admitting it’s something she doesn’t always remember when she gets on the board.”

It also means a bit of a new routine as she hits the waters at the Canada Games Complex, where an open house for the Thunder Bay Diving Club will be held on Wednesday and Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

“I’m going to have to learn some new dives this year, and practice them and try to get ready to compete so that I can be able to compete very well against the other (divers),” said Carlson, who dove all summer, but doesn’t see competition until a January event in Winnipeg.

That makes it tough, Lang said.

“We don’t really compete that much. We go to four, maybe five meets a year. She trains year round, often 20 hours a week. It’s been a long haul for the past four years.”

“It’s hard. It’s a long year and we start in September and we don’t compete until the middle of January. It’s a long haul to not be comparing yourself to anyone except your coach and what you see on the camera.”

Still, he’s ecstatic at her performance in Colombia.

“We really had no idea of how to (prepare) because we didn’t know any of the competitors, except the Canadian competitor. Her goal was basically to be the top Canadian and she dove very well, from the scores that I saw anyway. She beat the other Canadian … and she was right there with (the others).

“I have to say I’d give it an A+ for her overall performance, that’s for sure.”