Diving

OF all the aquatic disciplines, diving is probably the most spectacular when performed at the highest level.

Wales in the past has produced some of the best divers in Great Britain, with both women and men that have competed up to and including the Olympic Games.

But this level of diving has been severely curtailed by the loss of the only facility with a complete set of diving boards in Wales (the Empire Pool).

But this has not stopped diving from continuing in Wales at centres in Bangor and Aberdare.

Types of dives Forward Dives – front start with forward rotation Back Dives – back start with backward rotation Reverse Dives – front start with backward rotation Inward Dive – back start with forward rotation Twist Dive – rotation about the body’s long axis in addition to forward or backward rotation from either a front or back starting position

Competitive diving consists of groups of dives which can be performed in one of either four positions: straight, with the body is straight throughout the dive; pike, with the body bent at the hips, the rest of the body straight; tuck, with the whole body bunched up with the knees together, hands on the lower legs; and free, where the body can be in any combination of the other three positions.

The combination of groups and positions create hundreds of dives if you include the various different heights of boards used in modern day diving.

Each dive is given a number to identify it - 101 forward dive straight, 201 back dive straight and so on to include somersaults and twists.

In competitions the divers are judged by either a panel of five or seven judges each will award points from 0 to 10 depending on their option of how well the dive was performed.