What Is Diving & What Skills Do You Need To Become an Olympic Diver?

The Summer Olympics is a grand international competition that occurs every four years. Olympic diving is a competitive sport that blends flexibility, technique and lower-body strength. Olympic diving is a judged competition, where seven judges evaluate each athlete's dive for style, strength and form. Judges review the average of these scores, determining which diver wins the competition. Before you can compete, you must develop specific skills and improve your general fitness level.

  1. Competitive Diving

    • Athletes compete in competitive diving tournaments, where judges compare elements of each dive. These judged elements include the height each diver gets on a jump, skillful leap from the platform, movement in the air and the way divers enter the water. Seven judges award a score, from 0 to 10, for each dive. An ideal dive includes a high leap from the platform, uniform twists and turns in the air and a smooth water entry with a small splash. Judges award higher scores for more challenging moves in the air during a dive.

    Diving Categories

    • Olympic divers compete in specific categories of diving competitions. These include the men's three-meter dive and the 10-meter dive, and the women's three-meter and 10-meter dives. Divers can compete in multiple events. Additionally, divers compete in synchronized events for each of these categories, where two divers perform simultaneously. Each dive offers a unique challenge, with the three-meter dive stressing the importance of the leap, and the 10-meter dive stressing the importance of the aerial movements during the dive, as the added distance allows for more complicated maneuvers.

    Physical Requirements

    • Diving requires a high level of fitness training. This includes well-developed lower-body strength, flexibility, balance, endurance and strong swimming skills. Professional divers train in diving techniques and fitness exercises year around while preparing for the Olympics. Once divers see the final selection for the Olympics, preparation time is limited before the start of the Olympics. Divers must be in competition shape and ready to compete from the time they begin trying out for the Olympics.

    Olympic Trials

    • The summer diving season starts on June 1, and lasts until Sept. 30. During this season, the USA Diving Commission divides divers into age groups; 18 to 20 compete in Junior competitions, and 21 and over compete in Senior competitions. To compete, you are responsible for signing up with the USA Diving Commission and competing in your proper age group. The winners of each competitions compete in qualifying tournaments after the Sept. 30 close of season. Winners of the qualifying tournaments join the U.S. Olympic diving team.