ORIGINS

• Diving as a competitive sport was pioneered in Britain. Until the late nineteenth century, diving had either been a purely pleasurable pastime in warm climates, or for acquiring such natural resources as pearls and sponges.

• In 1889 the first diving championship took place Scotland. Four years later the first diving stage was erected at Highgate Ponds on Hampstead Heath in North London.

• Plain diving events were included in the Olympic Games until 1928 when the men’s plain and fancy diving events were amalgamated and the high-board diving event of today was born. Lately the sport has been dominated by America.

SPACE REQUIRED

• High-board diving takes place from a fixed board 10 metres above the pool, which has to be at least 4.5 metres deep. The only other board used in Olympic and World Championship events is the springboard, which is flexible and placed 3 metres above the pool.

PLAYING APPARATUS

• Male competitors must wear swimming trunks, while women must wear a one-piece costume. Both sexes may wear bathing caps and goggles.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

• Competitive diving is marked on a points system. After a preliminary round the 12 divers with the highest points go forward to the final. Points are awarded for the style in which each dive executed. This begins at the starting position, proceeds to the take-off, develops into the period in the air, and ends on entering the water.

• Men’s high board diving at Olympic level requires the competitors to divide their dives into two sections. The first four voluntary dives must not exceed a degree of difficulty of 7.6. Scoring is based on how these difficulties are overcome. The second section is six dives without limit. A type of dive used in one section may not be used in the other. In order words, all dives must be different.

RECORDS SET IN THE GAME

• Greg Louganis, born in San Diego, California, in January 1960, proved his all-time greatness by winning four Olympic medals and five World Championship gold medals. In 1976 he won Olympic silver at high-board. He missed the 1980 Games but returned in 1984 to win the springboard and high-board double. He repeated this at the 1988 Olympics.

• Miller Anderson, the US diver, won the national US championships in April 1946 with a new dive. This was not his only achievement wounded after being shot down over enemy territory in the Second World War, he had a 3-inch silver plate in his left leg. On his return to training, he switched to a right-leg start, remarking, ‘My sense of balance still isn’t what it should be’.

• Klaus Dibiasi, the Italian diver who went on to win medals in three Olympics, became immensely popular in his home town of Bolzano. The town bought him an exclusive gift: a diving tank!