Types of Fancy Olympic Dives

Olympic diving includes springboard and platform diving. It was called "fancing diving" when men's diving joined the Olympic games in 1904. In springboard diving, athletes are one to three meters above the water and jump into the air to dive higher and perform twists and turns. In platform diving, athletes are as much as 10 meters above the water. Diving competitions at the Olympics are the 3-meter spring board, 10-meter platform and synchronized diving competition. There are five main types of dives and a sixth for platform diving.

  1. Forward

    • The diver faces forward and spins down to the water. The most difficult dive in this group involves the diver doing four somersaults in the air before he hits the pool. Dives are all categorized by numbers and start with 100s. The first digit of a forward dive is "1." The second number is usually "0" and the third number is the number of half-somersaults. A forward somersault is classified as a 102. Each dive is given a letter that tells the position of the dive; "A" for a straight body; "B" for the pike position where the body is bent at the waist; "C" for tuck where the legs are tucked into the body and "D" is "free" when a combination of the other three are used in twisting dives.

    Backwards

    • The diver starts with his back to the water. He jumps and spins away from the board to execute the dive. A backward dive starts with a "2" in the diving classification. A simple back dive is 201 and a back dive with two and a half somersaults is 205, since each half-somersault is one digit.

    Reverse

    • A diver performing a reverse dive starts by facing forward on the board. When he jumps, he spins in the air towards the board to execute the "reverse." The number for reverse starts with a "3" when numbering the type of dive. A reverse dive with one and a half somersaults and a tuck is a 303C.

    Inward

    • With this type of dive, the athlete stands on the board with his back to the water. When he jumps, he spins towards the board, which is opposite what he would do in a backward dive. The number classification for an inward dive is "4." A 405B is an inward dive with two and a half somersaults and a pike.

    Twist

    • This includes any dive with a twist. Twisting dives are divided into four types: forward, backward, reverse and inward. This type of dive has four digits associated with it. A "5" starts off the number for the dive. The second number indicates which direction the dive will go (forward, backward, reverse or inward). The third number is how many half-somersaults and the fourth number is how many half-twists. A forward dive with one and a half somersaults and a twist in the "free" position is a 5132D.

    Arm Stand

    • Athletes can perform by starting in the handstand position on a platform to start off the dive. These dives have three digits for non-twisting dives. The first digit is a 6. An arm stand back dive with one somersault and pike is a 622B.