Diving

Diving is a sport that involves leaping into water, typically hitting the surface with outstretched arms first, followed by the head. Dives can be performed from different heights and in different ways. Competitive diving is divided into many categories. Divers add several acrobatic movements—like flips, twists, and spins—to their dives, and these complex actions add to the dive's degree of difficulty. Judges score dives based on their height, distance, the angle at which divers enter the water, the splash divers create, and their form throughout the attempt. Competitive dives can take place from springboards or solid platforms placed at different heights. Synchronized diving is one variation, in which two teammates attempt to perform identical dives simultaneously.

Origins and History

Competitive diving has its roots in swim races. In most races, swimmers begin out of the water, and how they dive in can have a massive influence on the race. Modern competitive diving was born from gymnastics routines. In the eighteenth century, many Swedish and German gymnasts found that jumping into water allowed them the height to perform several airborne techniques, especially in outdoor environments. Athletes began to put on performances for spectators, which drew attention and praise for the skills on display. The practice began to spread across Europe. Soon after, athletes began competing to execute the most impressive dives. The United Kingdom began holding plunging championships in the late nineteenth century. The Amateur Diving Association formed in 1901 to regulate the different forms of diving competition.

Diving's rapid rise in popularity led to its inclusion in the 1904 Olympic Games. The debut of Olympic diving consisted of two events: the plain high dive, which resembles modern platform diving, and the plunge for distance, which involved competitors attempting to dive into the water and travel as far as they could beneath the surface with no kicks or strokes. The springboard dive replaced the plunge for distance at the next Olympics. Women first participated in diving events at the 1912 Olympics, making diving one of the first Olympic sports open to women.

By the 1928 Olympics, diving consisted of the three-meter springboard dive and the ten-meter platform dive, which remained consistent throughout the twentieth century. The 2000 Olympic Games added synchronized versions of both events. Ever since, Olympic diving has consistently featured the three-meter and ten-meter heights, both solo and synchronized, for men and women.

The United States has historically dominated Olympic diving, accumulating 49 gold medals and 138 total medals through the 2016 Olympics. Once it began participating in the Olympics in 1984, China proved to be a formidable rival to the United States. By 2024, it had collected 55 gold medals, more than any other country at the time, and 92 medals total. However, the United States had the most medals overall at 142. The next best nation, Sweden, had 6 gold medals and 21 total metals by 2024, trailing both the United States and China by a large margin.

Rules and Regulations

A panel of judges scores competitive diving. Most competitions use five or seven judges, with high-profile events favoring the seven-judge format. In an attempt to limit the influence of a single judge, the scoring system is structured so that the highest and lowest scores are dismissed. In a seven-judge panel, the two highest and two lowest scores may be dismissed. Scorers then add up the remaining scores and multiply it by a dive's degree of difficulty.

The degree of difficulty is a measurement of a dive's complexity and challenge. An athlete will submit the types of dives he or she plans to attempt prior to a competition. These dives are given a numerical value, which is used to multiply a diver's score. Factors that affect the degree of difficulty include the amount of maneuvers required, the positions that a diver must maintain, and the height the diver reaches at the peak of his or her jump.

Scoring measures several elements of the dive. One is the height reached at the peak of the dive, with greater scores for greater heights. Another is the distance between the diver and the platform or springboard—the highest scorers remain nearby but avoid hitting them. The diver must accurately execute the different movements that were established in the dive he or she was attempting and maintain proper form. The straighter the diver's trajectory when he or she hits the water, the greater the score in that category will be. Finally, minimizing splash on impact results in a higher score.

Strategy and Tactics

Diving requires a great deal of physical control and coordination. Competitors must be very flexible and capable of executing several spins and twists without becoming disoriented. They also must be very familiar with the height they are diving from and know how much time they have to carry out their maneuvers before hitting the water.

Divers must balance degree of difficulty with their ability to execute their dives. They consistently train and condition in order to compete at higher degrees of difficulty and earn higher scores. Psychology factors into divers' strategies as well. Divers will perform multiple dives in a single meet, and the order in which they execute them can be essential. Since competitors are not active at the same time, a great deal of diving success involves maintaining confidence, composure, and drive.

Swimmers also employ diving strategically for races. Unlike competitive divers, swimmers want to use the gravity and launch of a dive to carry them forward as much and as quickly as possible. They aim to minimize drag, making themselves streamlined. In most races, swimmers must surface within the first fifteen meters of a race. Swimmers can move extremely quickly and efficiently underwater due to the lack of resistance, so a dive that allows them to get the most out of those fifteen meters, while also ensuring they can easily surface at the end of them, is essential.

Professional Leagues and Series

US college diving is regulated by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). As with many of the sports in NCAA jurisdiction, a typical season consists of regular-season meets between schools across the country. Most schools belong to a collection of teams in one region called a conference. Schools will compete to win a conference championship by having the best record. A tournament among conference teams follows, with each school seeded according to its record. Qualifying schools will then play in a regional competition. The top finishers in each region then come together for a final meet to determine the season's national champion.

On the professional level, the World Aquatics—formerly known as the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA)—regulates international competition. FINA was founded in the early twentieth century, when diving's popularity was spreading across the globe. FINA also began regulating other aquatic sports, including swimming and water polo. Because of this, in 2022, the FINA reform committee led an effort to change the organization to represent the wide variety of sports programs it supports, beyond but including swimming. Natation is the French word for swimming and therefore not representative of the wide range of sports the organization entails. Thus, after more than 70 percent of FINA's athletes voted in favor of the rebranding, the name was changed to World Aquatics.

World Aquatics structures diving and other aquatic sports for Olympic events. Outside of the Olympics, World Aquatics holds several international competitions. Since the 1970s, the biggest non-Olympic diving event has been at the World Aquatics Championships. These consist of a variety of aquatic sporting events, with national teams competing for medals in a structure similar to the Olympics. As with Olympic diving, the United States and China have historically been the strongest competitors in the World Aquatics Championships. Diving has been part of the championships since their inception, and the diving events include high dives—twenty-seven meters for men and twenty for women. The championships were initially held every four years, in even-numbered years that lacked Summer Olympics. At the turn of the century, the format changed so that they take place every odd-numbered year. World Aquatics also oversees the Diving World Series, an annual event featuring the world's greatest divers.

Popularity

The public primarily follows competitive diving through the Olympics. It is rarely televised outside of those events. At the college level, competitive diving is commonly combined with swimming. Some colleges have facilities that host multiple pools, one that is designed for multiple lanes of racing and another much deeper pool with springboards or platforms in position. Diving scores are combined with swim race scores to decide the winner of a given meet. Platform and high diving are much less common, since many schools do not have the facilities to accommodate them. The schools that do support them compete separately from swimming and other diving competitions.

At the high school level, aquatic sports are popular choices for athletes during the winter. Some schools omit diving, due to its required pool. Many schools do not have the facilities on school grounds but use a community center or similar building nearby. Diving, along with swimming, is also popular during the summer, and there are many recreational leagues available.

Diving as a pastime is popular in coastal areas and regions with warm climates. Lakes and ponds are also popular dive sites, if the water is deep enough and the landscape allows it. Cliffs and high drops into the water draw thrill-seeking divers.

Bibliography

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