Rails Diving is part of the High School Women’s team. In fact, many times Lincoln’s divers also swim events in meets. Practices are split. Some time is spent swimming; some is spent diving. Diving is just one event out of a high school swim meet, but it is a complex sport in its own right. More information on diving can be found below.
Diving Practice Schedule
Note: If a diver is also a swimmer, they need to be at practice for the start of swim practice, even if diving practice begins or ends at a different time.
Diving is filled with vocabulary unique to the sport. View the Diving Glossary to learn more about “call-outs”, “take-offs” and “approaches”.
Diving is filled with rules. While there are too many to list here, below are some basic rules.
- If a diver fails two dives, they are disqualified from the event.
- If a diver balks twice on one dive, the dive is deemed failed.
- If a diver breaks position, then the maximum score awarded is 4.
- If a diver hits the board, then a maximum score of 4 is awarded.
Diving is a subjective sport. Judges follow guidelines when determining a score, but ultimately determine what elements of a dive they like or dislike. Many people think judging is all about the entry, but the approach, height, flight and execution of the dive are equally (if not more!) important. These elements will certainly factor into the judges scores.
If you’d like to learn more about judging, please visit the Iowa Girls’ High School Athletic Union online. There you can learn about the diving rules. You can also view diving judges tutorials, complete with quizzes:
*Note: These tutorials were created by Indiana’s High School Athletic Association. Thanks to the IHSAA and the IGHSAU for providing and sharing these resources.
- 9 – 10: Exceptional – all phases of the dive, from starting position through entry, are exceptional.
- 7 ½ – 8 ½: Excellent – approach, hurdle, takeoff, flight or entry are only slightly affected. Execution of the dive is well-defined.
- 6 – 7: Good – approach and hurdle are unaffected; height and distance from the board are acceptable; execution is defined; entry is under control but affected.
- 4 ½ – 5 ½: Satisfactory – approach and hurdle are satisfactory; height and distance are adequate; execution is complete but the entry is long or short.
- 2 ½ – 4: Deficient – approach and hurdle are affected; height and distance are inadequate; execution is affected; entry is long or short.
- ½ – 2: Unsatisfactory – approach and hurdle are affected; height and distance inadequate; execution incomplete or position is broken; entry is significantly long or short.
- 0: Failed dive
Frequently Asked Questions
With diving being a sport most athletes join in high school, parents often have a lot of questions. Hopefully – we’ve answered a few of them in our FAQs document.