Diving in

BURNET — The swimmers hung on every word spoken by Longhorn Aquatics coaches Doug Rusk and Mike Laitaia.

Then they hurried to starting blocks and eagerly jumped in the pool to get instruction from the coaches, who offered a free clinic at Galloway-Hammond Recreation Center on Wednesday.

Rusk and Laitaia hope to have even more swimmers now that the organization, which is under the umbrella of the University of Texas at Austin, plans on being at Galloway-Hammond at least four days a week starting in September.

“We had a really good experience,” head coach Rusk said. “Got to work with a lot of kids who look like they have hopefully promising swimming careers. I think they enjoyed themselves and got a pretty hard workout — a little harder than what they’re used to maybe — but everybody did a great job.”