Photo by Eric Parsons

Chad Ernsdorf, left, helps 8-year-old Kenzie Pina balance near the end of the diving board during a free diving clinic at the Ventura Aquatic Center on Saturday.

They practiced their steps on the board before launching into the pool with varying degrees of splashing upon entry.

As the novice divers took advantage of a free clinic being held at the Ventura Aquatic Center on Saturday afternoon, Olympian Troy Dumais sat nearby signing autographs and posing for pictures.

The Buena High graduate's diving career took root in the local pools, but couldn't fully blossom until he traveled outside Ventura County lines.

Although new aquatic facilities have been built in the area since the 28-year-old Dumais first started diving, not much else has changed.

If any of those novice divers want to climb the diving ladder like Dumais, they will likely have to go elsewhere for training.

The county still has limited support in place, and the pool of qualified coaches remains pretty shallow.

"People essentially move out of what we have to offer as they improve," said Ventura College swimming coach Larry Baratte. "It is a great sport for kids to be a part of, but it's lacking a little bit of a base. We need individuals who are interested to take it and build that base of the pyramid for the sport to really survive."

Dive Thousand Oaks — a competitive springboard diving team — was the latest program to groom a few quality divers locally. But like its predecessors, the team has gradually fizzled out, according to several members.

When the diving Dumais' family — Justin, Troy, Brice, Leanne and Dwight — were cycling through, their talent eventual outgrew the level of support available.

Troy started practicing at Buena High, switched to Ojai and eventually landed at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena, where he will be next week competing in the Kaiser Permanente National Diving Championships on the 3-meter springboard before leaving for the Olympics in Beijing.

After receiving a key to the city from Ventura mayor Christy Weir on Saturday, Dumais recalled having to drive 70 miles to school each morning after practices.

The lengthy commute caught the attention of Jerry Weil, whose daughter was doing backflips off the 1-meter springboard an hour later.

Anna Weil, 12, has a background in gymnastics, and recently expressed an interest in learning how to dive for high school.

"If she wanted to get serious about it, we would do what needed to do," Jerry Weil said. "But there are such limited opportunities in Ventura County for it. They have great swimming programs, but they just need a few highly qualified people to spearhead a diving program."

It hasn't been for lack of trying at the Ventura Aquatic Center.

The facility just received a grant from the LA84 Foundation, a private nonprofit endowed with surplus funds from the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The money from the grant has been used to establish novice diving, swimming, synchronized swimming and water polo teams.

Ventura Aquatic Center supervisor Stacey Zarazua has been approached about starting a USA Diving club for advanced divers, but has just one problem.

"I am not able to find a qualified dive coach to take it to the next level," she said. "It's such a specialized sport, and coaches are hard to find. We've had three really good coaches here before, but things came up in their lives, and they had to leave."

The coaching shortage spans all levels. The Marmonte League split swimming and diving into separate sports two years ago, and diving sunk to a low level this season without needed support at the top.

"Only Thousand Oaks and Royal had teams because a lot of schools couldn't find a coach," said Thousand Oaks diver Amanda Stines. "It kind of takes away from the atmosphere of the meets when there is hardly anyone there."

Luring more coaches into the area could be helped with more support equipment, which in turn could lead to more divers, says Dumais.

"If you had a jacuzzi here to keep the kids warm, you could get more kids in the water and you would get more diverse athletes," said Dumais, speaking in the shadow of Ventura's four springboards. "Those type of ideas are not negative information. To promote any sport you might have to go beyond and above what the standardized level is."

Being an Olympic year, diving is likely to see a newfound spike in interest as a result of the wider exposure it will receive at the Beijing Games.

Watching diving in the Olympics is what prompted Melani Meister to ask if she could begin the sport.

Her family combed the area for programs, and found Dive T.O. As she became more serious, Meister added a trip to Pasadena for training at least once a week.

Having just graduated from Royal High, Meister believes she is done competing. But her next diving experience could help keep others on the board.

Meister wants to coach.

"I have been a part of the sport so long that I miss it when I drive by the pool," she said. ""I want to at least still be on the deck trying to share what I used to do with other people. It's a fun sport, and it's a shame more kids don't get to experience it."