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The diver must be able to see the surface of the water during the dive, and FINA has several requirements to ensure this. Springboards and platforms in outdoor pools must face north in the northern hemisphere and south in the southern hemisphere; this avoids glare from the sun, which lies to the south in the northern hemisphere and to the north in the southern hemisphere. For indoor pools and for diving at night in outdoor pools, lighting must be sufficient. Any sources of illumination should prevent glare. A smooth surface of water can make it difficult for athletes to judge the distance to the water. Therefore, many competition pools have machines that agitate the water under the springboards and platforms, making the surface more visible. Some pools that host major events have elevators that take divers to the top of the platform and underwater windows below the surface of the pool for observers and television cameras.
Divers submit a list of dives they intend to perform prior to competition. Every dive is indicated in a code of three or four numbers followed by a single letter. Each of these indicators represents an aspect of the dive and tells the judges what dive they will be scoring. Before each dive, the dive number is displayed visibly to divers and judges. To prepare young divers for competition, coaches test the students' knowledge in practice by referring to the dive by number rather than description.
The number of dives in a competition varies by age group. Olympic and world championship competitions have three sessions. Before the first session, called the preliminaries, the dive order is randomly selected and posted for the divers to see. During the preliminaries divers perform a list of dives without regard to degree of difficulty. Men perform six dives and women perform five. The top 18 divers advance to the next session, the semifinals, and follow the same dive order. Each diver performs another list of dives that may not exceed the degree of difficulty established by the rules. Men and women diving from the 3-m springboard perform five dives, while only four dives are performed from the 10-m platform. The preliminary and semifinals scores are then added together and the top 12 divers advance to the finals. In the finals, divers compete in the reverse order of their standing, with the lowest-scoring diver going first. Men perform six dives while women perform five dives. After the finals are completed, the semifinals scores and finals scores are added together. The diver who scores the most points wins the competition. More from Encarta
Each dive has a degree of difficulty. Points are assigned to five areas: somersaults, flight position, twists, approach, and entry. The degree of difficulty of each dive is calculated according to a formula that adds points for each of these categories. Rulebooks provide a list of previously calculated degrees of difficulty for about 75 different dives on the springboard and about 100 different dives on the platform. When a diver performs a new dive, the competition’s officials assign it a number and determine its difficulty using a specific formula. The dive is then registered with FINA. At most diving competitions a panel of five judges scores each dive and awards points. The Olympic Games and world championships use seven judges. After each dive the judges immediately and simultaneously indicate the points they award to the diver without communicating with one another. The judges rate the technique and execution of the dive, including the starting position, run, take-off, flight, and entry. Whole points or half points are awarded from zero to ten according to the opinion of the judges as follows:
Judges subtract points, called deductions, when a dive is completely or partially performed in a position other than the one listed. No points are awarded when a diver executes a dive with a different dive number than listed or makes no dive at all. To determine a diver’s total score, the highest and lowest judges’ marks are canceled. The total of the remaining marks is multiplied by the degree of difficulty. In competitions with seven judges, the total score is divided by five, and then multiplied by three. This yields a score that can be compared to dives scored by a five-judge panel. For example:
Diving events are held for many different age groups. FINA governs international competitions. In the United States several organizations supervise the various levels of competition: the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS), the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and United States Diving, Inc., which selects and prepares the teams that represent the United States in international competition.
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