Diving is classified as an art as well as a sport. Beauty and grace must be added to feats of strength and agility while the body is moving through the air. The diver must have total body control and good kinesthetic awareness.

Divers compete in one-metre and three-metre springboard events and also on platform. When competing platform, divers may perform from five, seven and one-half, or ten meters.

A dive is not judgedby entry alone. All phases of the performance are considered: the approach, the take-off, the technique and grace during flight, and the entry into the water. The judges score each dive, in its entirety, without concern for difficulty as each dive has an assigned Degree of Difficulty (D.D.) to reward the athletes for complicated skills.

STARTING POSITION ON THE BOARD - The diver stands with their body straight, head erect, arms straight and to the sides or above the head. Once a diver moves their arms from a backward take-off position or starts their run in a forward take-off postion they must continue or a balk can be called by the referee. One balk is allowed - resulting in a penalty of two points which is deducted from each judge's score by the scorers as instructed by the referee. Should a diver lose their balance and their feet touch the platform in an armstand dive, the same rule applies. A second results in a failed dive.

THE APPROACH - The diver walks down the board maintaining good posture and must take at least four steps including the hurdle. If a diver takes less than four steps the referee shall instruct the scorers to deduct two points from the award of each judge. The run should be smooth, straight and without hesitation.

THE TAKE-OFF - The diver must leave the board from bnoth feet on the springboard but may take off from one foot on the platform. It shall be bold, reasonably high and confident and may be performed either standing or running. The judges shall award points for a standing dive, bearing in mind the height and standard of execution which might be expected from a running dive. Only one bounce on the same spot is allowed, it is permissible for a diver to start the board in motion in preparing for a back take-off.

THE FLIGHT - The divers legs should be together and toes pointed.

There are six groups of dives:

Forward - forward take-off (facing the water) with forward rotation.
Backward - backward take-off (back to the water) with backward rotation.
Reverse - forward take-off with backward rotation.
Inward - backward take-off with forward rotation.
Twist - Any of the above groups with 1/2 to 4 twists added.
Armstand - (from the platform only) dives performed from a handstand on the end of the platform.
The body positions are:
A: Straight - body not bent.
B: Pike - body bent at the hips only.
C: Tuck - body bent at hips and knees.
D: Free - combination of the above postions (used for twist dives)
Arm position is optional.

If a position is clearly other than announced, the referee will declare that the highest mark shall be two points. If a postion is partially other than announced the maximum mark is 4.5.

If the diver touches the end of the board, or dives to the side of the direct line of flight - this indicates, no matter how well the dive may have been executed, that they were too close to the board for proper execution and the judges make their own decisions regarding the deduction of points from their scores. It is proposed that in this case the highest mark be 4.5.

TWISTS - Twisting must not be done manifestly from the board in straight dives with oone-half or full twist. In pike dives with the twist, the twist must not be started until there is a definite pike position shown. Twists may be done at any time in somersaults with twists. If a twist is more or less than announced by 90 degrees the diver receives zero fro that dive as declared by the referee.

FLYING DIVES - In all flying somersault dives a straight position should be clearly shown for approximately one-half of the somersault. This position should be assumed from the take-off except for dive 116 in which the straight position must be shown after one somersault has been completed.

ENTRIES -

HEAD FIRST - body is vertical, or nearly so, with arms stretched beyond the head in line with the body, hands close together.
FEET FIRST - body is vertical, or nearly so, with arms tightly at the sides of the body.
A dive is finished when the whole body is completely under the surface of the water. What happens under the water is not judged.
All dives must be executed by the divers without help from anyone after the referee has signaled the start of the dive.

After the competition is started, a diver must not bounce on the springboard until after the score of the previous diver has been announced.

A diver who refuses the execution of a dive shall recieve zero points for that dive.

A diving meet is conducted by a referee, a panel of 5 or 7 judges, an announcer and scorers. The referee manages the event and ensures all regulations are observed. After each dive, the referee signals the judges who, without communication with any collegues, immediately flash their awards. Points are awarded from zero to ten, according to the opinion of the judge based on the criteria and the performance.

What The Scores Mean

Very Good 8-1/2 to 10 Good 6-1/2 to 8
Satisfactory 5 to 6 Deficient 2-1/2 to 4-1/2
Unsatisfactory 1/2 to 2 Failed 0

The judges' scores are written in order on each diver's sheet. The highest and lowest scores are eliminated and the remaining scores are added. This score is then multiplied by the D.D to produce the final score for the dive. The scores for each dive are added to give the total score for the event. The diver with the highest cumulative score at the end of the competition is the winner.
During a competition, the divers must perform compulsory and optional dives, the number of dives varies depending on the competition.

The competition consists of preliminaries and finals. All divers in the competition compete in preliminaties and perform their compulsory dives, they may also (depending on the competion) perfrom optional dives. The totals from the preliminaries are used to perform "cuts" in which only the top divers will move on to the finals. Depending on the competition, this is typically eight, ten, or twelve divers.

The divers in the final will perform additional dives, typically optional dives and fewer than in the preliminaries. The scores from preliminaries are usually discarded so that each diver starts out equal in the final competition. The diver with the highest score after finals is the winner.