Olympic diving rules explained

Diving is one of the more popular sports we’ll see at the 2021 Olympics but viewers may simultaneously need to brush up on the rules for the event.

Fans of the Summer Olympics are no strangers to diving. It’s an event that has withstood the test of time, first appearing as an outdoor event in 1904 and progressing from there, which includes first moving indoors in 1934. And it remains a fan-favorite in all four events for both men and women. The formats for these events are the 3m springboard, 10m platform, and the synchronized version of both of these events.

But while fans may tune into diving events at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, they are often left with questions in doing so. Why are the divers showering after their turn? How is a dive actually scored? And perhaps most pointedly, what are the actual rules of diving at this level? Outside of “don’t make a big splash”, many viewers don’t know much about the rules.

Well, the most nondescript answer to that question is that there are a number of elements that go into the diving rules at the Olympics. However, we’re going to try and unpack everything that you need to know to better understand the rules and, perhaps, help you enjoy the events a little more at the 2021 Olympics.

2021 Olympics diving rules: What goes into a dive?

The first thing that you need to know about diving is the terminology used around the sport when talking about that. And this begins with talking about how an attempt begins, also referred to as the “Group” a dive falls into.

There are six dive groups: 1. Forward (facing forward, rotate forward), 2. Back (facing backward, rotate backward), 3. Reverse (facing forward, rotate backward), 4. Inward (facing backward, rotate forward), 5. Twist (facing either way, twisting sideways), 6. Armstand (facing either way, starting from handstand). Of the groups, all can be performed on springboard or platform except for Group 6, which is exclusively for platform dives.

In the Olympics, men must complete six dives, with one from each of the six groups (in springboard, they may choose which group they wish to do another dive from). Women must complete five dives and no group can be repeated (or every group must be used for springboard).

Next, there are also four positions that are utilized once a diver gets in the air: straight (no knee or hip bend), pike (bent hips, knees straight), tuck (balled up with arms around shins), and free (usually used for twists, a combination of other positions). Generally, straight position is considered the most difficult, followed by pike and then tuck coming in as the easiest.

This all comes into play when it comes to how everything is scored.

2021 Olympics diving rules: How is a dive scored?

Every aspect of a dive is scored in terms of execution but what stands out is that the degree of difficulty (DD) is factored in by a numeric value before a diver ever leaves the board. That DD is extremely important as it is multiplied by the judges’ scores. And as for the judges, the highest and lowest scores are often removed and the median scores are used to multiply by the DD to give a final score.

With the judges, they are looking at the start, the flight and the entry into the water when they are scoring. For the beginning, they will look at the height a diver gets on their initial jump (the higher the better) or how long a handstand is held if that’s being used.

During the flight of a dive, the judges first look for the distance an athlete is from the platform (or springboard) throughout. In this aspect, it’s generally accepted that inside of two feet from the starting spot is quality. Moreover, the body positioning and amount of rotation are also factored into the score based on the dive being performed.

And yes, the splash does matter. Officially, the angle of entry is supposed to be scored as divers are supposed to go into the water straight at a 90-degree angle to the water. Thus, the less angled the body, the smaller the splash and judges will look for the smaller splash to help determine the angle of entry.

For synchronized diving events, there are additional judges as some score one diver, some score the other and the rest score how in-sync the two divers are from the timing of their jump to the timing of rotations to the time of entry into the water.