50 Fun Facts About Diving

Which diver holds the record for most Olympic diving medals, with eight won between 1992 and 2008?

The Russian's haul spans five Games; the most decorated woman, Guo Jingjing, has six.

In which country were the first modern diving competitions held, in the 1880s?

The sport probably grew out of the dive at the start of swimming races; the Amateur Swimming Association ran a plunging championship from 1883 to 1937.

Competitive diving grew out of gymnasts in which two countries training over water?

A soft landing let them attempt more elaborate feats from greater heights, and the tradition became known as fancy diving.

The first world championship diving event, held in 1895, took place at which London site?

Swedish divers Otto Hagborg and C F Mauritzi showed off their acrobatic style there, which led to the world's first diving association in 1901.

Diving made its Olympic debut at which Games?

The 1908 Games added springboard events and elastic boards in place of fixed platforms.

The 1904 Olympic diving programme included a plunge for distance. How was that event won?

It was dropped in 1908 for being uninteresting to watch and replaced by springboard diving.

Women first competed in Olympic diving at which Games?

Their debut was in the platform event; springboard was added for women in 1920.

Synchronised diving became an Olympic sport at which Games?

The addition doubled the programme from four events to eight, and pairs are judged on execution and on synchronisation.

In major meets such as the Olympics, platform diving is performed from what height?

Younger divers may compete from 5, 7.5 or 9 metre towers, but the big meets use only the top board.

Apart from the platform, most diving competitions include springboards at which two heights?

Only the 3-metre springboard is contested at the Olympics; the 1-metre appears at the World Championships.

How many judges sit on the panel for individual diving at the Olympics?

The two highest and two lowest marks are thrown out and the middle three are added and multiplied by the degree of difficulty.

A judge's score out of ten is notionally split into three points each for which three phases of a dive?

The extra point gives judges some flexibility; the total is then multiplied by the dive's degree of difficulty.

What score does a diver receive for performing a dive other than the one announced, even if it is harder?

Dive sheets are locked at a deadline, so a wrong dive counts as a failed dive.

The score for a dive is multiplied by a factor known as what?

It is also called the tariff, and a competitive diver builds a dive list to maximise it while still scoring consistently.

How many groups are dives classified into for competition?

The first digit of every dive number identifies its group, and the last of the six is only available on the platform.

In which dive group does the diver take off facing forward and rotate backward?

Inward is the mirror image: taking off with the back to the water and rotating forward, towards the board.

Which body position in flight is rated the hardest of the four?

Straight is rated hardest because of the risk of over-rotation, even though many divers find it the easiest to hold in a simple dive.

The four dive positions are referred to by which letters?

The letter is appended to the dive number, so 101A is a forward dive in the straight position.

In the dive number 305C, what does the third digit represent?

305C is a reverse two-and-a-half somersault in the tuck position: group 3, no flying element, five half-somersaults.

Which dive group, the one that begins from a handstand, is only performed on the platform?

Inward-rotating armstand dives have never been performed and are generally regarded as physically impossible.

Roughly how fast is a diver travelling when they hit the water from the 10-metre platform?

A flat landing from that height brings the body to rest in about 30 centimetres, which is why bad entries cause bruising and even concussion.

The sport's governing body recommends what minimum pool depth beneath a 10-metre platform?

Elite divers rarely go more than about 2.5 m below the surface because they roll with the dive's rotation to produce a clean entry.

Which body became the global governing body of diving, adopting its current name in 2023?

Formerly FINA, it also runs swimming, artistic swimming, water polo and open-water swimming.

China first competed in Olympic diving at which Games, having boycotted the previous ones?

It has since become the sport's dominant power, accumulating dozens of gold medals.

Greg Louganis swept both the springboard and platform golds at which two consecutive Olympics?

He is the only man ever to do the double-double, and he was adopted at eight months old by a Californian couple.

What happened to Greg Louganis during the preliminary rounds at the 1988 Seoul Olympics?

He was stitched up, returned the same day and went on to win the gold medal.

Six months before the 1988 Olympics, Greg Louganis received what diagnosis, which he kept private until 1995?

His head injury in Seoul later prompted debate because he had bled into a pool used by other divers.

In 2016, Greg Louganis appeared on the boxes of which cereal as part of a Legends series?

The series also honoured 1980s Olympians Janet Evans and Edwin Moses.

American Pat McCormick won both women's diving events at which two consecutive Olympics?

Her son Tim was born just five months before her Melbourne double, and her daughter Kelly later won two Olympic diving medals.

Who coached Klaus Dibiasi, the only diver with three straight Olympic golds in one event?

Carlo Dibiasi had finished tenth at the 1936 Berlin Games; his son won platform gold in 1968, 1972 and 1976 after a silver in 1964.

China's Fu Mingxia won the platform world championship in 1991 at what age?

She had switched from gymnastics at around seven when coaches thought she was not flexible enough, despite not being able to swim.

Fu Mingxia was inspired to take up sport by an older sister and originally trained in what discipline?

In training she sometimes practised 100 dives a day, gliding so close to the platform that her hair brushed it.

Guo Jingjing won the 3 m springboard event at how many consecutive World Championships?

She and her synchro partner Wu Minxia are tied for the most Olympic medals by a female diver, with six each.

After the 2004 Olympics, Guo Jingjing was banned by the Chinese national team for what reason?

She was reinstated after agreeing to give up most promotional work and to surrender nearly four million dollars in endorsement earnings.

Chen Ruolin, a five-time Olympic champion, coached which platform star to two golds at Paris 2024?

Chen retired in 2016 with a neck injury and began coaching in 2021; her pupil won two golds in Paris.

Which phrase did Chinese media coin for the splashless entries of the 2020 and 2024 platform champion?

She won 10 m platform gold in Tokyo aged 14 with dives that drew straight tens from all seven judges.

Tom Daley won his first world title on the 10 m platform in 2009 at what age?

He was Britain's youngest competitor at the 2008 Olympics at 14, and won a second world platform title in 2017.

With whom did Tom Daley win Olympic gold in the synchronised 10 m platform at the 2020 Games?

His silver in Paris in 2024 made him the first British diver to win five Olympic medals.

Tom Daley served as a mentor on which 2013 ITV celebrity diving show?

He has since become almost as famous for knitting, presenting a Channel 4 knitting competition in 2025.

Australia's Matthew Mitcham, the 2008 Olympic platform champion, originally competed in which sport?

His final dive in Beijing was at the time the highest-scoring dive in Olympic history, and he was the first openly gay man to win Olympic gold.

High diving made its debut at the 2013 world championships held in which city?

Colombia's Orlando Duque and America's Cesilie Carlton were the first world champions.

At the world championships, men's high diving is performed from a platform of what height?

Women dive from 20 metres, and high divers have reached descent speeds of 96 km/h.

The Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series was established in which year?

A women's competition was added in 2014, and since 2020 there have been equal numbers of male and female competitors.

The 1928 Olympics merged plain and fancy diving into a single event under what name?

The programme then stayed unchanged at two men's and two women's events until synchronised diving arrived in 2000.

Which two-time Olympic champion spotted the young Greg Louganis and became his coach?

At 16 Louganis took silver on the tower at the 1976 Montreal Games, behind Italy's Klaus Dibiasi.

How many World Championship gold medals did China's springboard specialist Wu Minxia win?

She partnered Guo Jingjing and later He Zi in synchro, and competed at every Olympics from 2004 to 2016, winning five golds.

Klaus Dibiasi won Olympic diving medals at how many Summer Games?

Silver in 1964 preceded platform golds in 1968, 1972 and 1976; a 1968 springboard silver made five medals in all.

In which Austrian town was Italy's first Olympic diving champion, Klaus Dibiasi, born?

His Italian parents took him back to Italy as a child; he later won 11 national platform titles.

Which East German diver won both springboard and platform gold at the 1960 Rome Olympics?

Competing for the United Team of Germany, she added springboard gold in 1964 as Engel-Krämer and later coached Jan Hempel.

In which Californian city was Greg Louganis born?

He is of Samoan and Swedish descent; his teenage biological parents placed him for adoption as a baby.