From 1928 to 1996 the Olympic diving program remained virtually unchanged with four events being contested: men’s and women’s springboard and platform.
Current springboard competition takes place on a flexible 16-foot aluminum board that sits three-meters (3 ft., 10.1 in.) above the surface of the water, while the platform competition takes place on a stable surface that sits 10-meters (32 ft., 9.7 in.) above the water.
Springboard diving is actually the more technically difficult of the two disciplines, but the “fear factor” of performing a dive from over 32 feet more than makes up for this difference.
Early Olympic Games included other diving events on the program. Men’s plunge for distance was a contest in which the diver made a standing dive and the winner was determined by the distance traveled from the takeoff to the point at which the competitor surfaced. This event took place only at the St. Louis Games.
A second discontinued event was called plain high diving, and was contested in the 1912, 1920, and 1924 Olympics. Plain high diving involved a combination of dives without somersaults or twisting.
Women’s platform diving was introduced at the Stockholm Games of 1912. It was not until 1920 though that women’s springboard diving became an event.
In Syndey in 2000 synchronized diving became a full medal event following its debut as a demonstration sport in Atlanta four years earlier. Much to the delight of spectators and the television audience, synchronized diving gives the fan the ability to compare the performances of two divers on their own without relying on a judges score to determine what is a good dive.
