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The Science of Olympic Diving Explained - How to Hit the Water at 30 MPH and Barely Make a Splash
Water acts like concrete at high enough speeds.
Competitive diving was first introduced to the summer Olympic games in 1904. What was originally called the Fancy High Dive has, over the course of more than a hundred years, evolved into one of the most grueling and graceful competitions on the Olympic stage.
As elegant as Olympic divers appear while spinning through the air as they plummet toward the water, the High Dive is an aggressive, full contact sport. The impact forces between the diver and the water are on par with those experienced by professional football players.
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Common diving injuries include broken bones, dislocated joints, ruptured eardrums, concussions, and bruised lungs. In a contest designed to push the world’s best athletes to their limits, how can Olympic divers successfully plunge from great heights without breaking their bodies?
How Olympic Divers Hit the Water at 30 Miles per Hour and (Hopefully) Avoid Injury
Falling into the water is definitely preferable to falling onto hard ground, but if you’ve ever accidentally belly flopped into a pool, then you know how hard the water can hit back. From 18 inches above the water, about the height of an average poolside dive, you’re only going about 7 miles an hour when you hit the water.
Olympic high divers jump from a platform 10 meters (about 32 feet) above the pool. From that high, they get up to just over 31 miles an hour by the time they hit the pool. “When you hit the water, it's as hard as concrete for a split-second before you break through," Olympic diver Kassidy Cook told the Los Angeles Times.
Outside of the Olympics, diving competitions have platforms as high as 88 feet (27 meters). From that distance, divers reach speeds of 51 miles per hour. The world record for the highest dive of all time was set in 2015 when Lazaro Schaller dove from a platform 193 feet (58.8 meters) high. It took nearly 3.5 seconds to fall the distance, and Schaller was going 76 miles an hour at the bottom.
In addition to controlling the motion of their bodies during the fall, divers need to account for water tension at the surface of the pool. If you’ve ever filled a glass of water almost to overflowing, you might have noticed the water will rise higher than the lip of the glass without spilling over. There are a lot of complicated physical and chemical reasons why that happens, but all that matters for divers is that water likes to stick together.
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Breaking that stickiness at the moment they hit the water is an important part of a successful dive. Athletes do it by entering the water in just the right way at just the right angle. The goal is to land straight up and down, arms outstretched, with palms facing the water. The best divers in the world can do several flips and spins all at the same time and land perfectly in the water with barely a splash.
When executed well, slapping the water with open palms breaks the surface tension, creating a small hole the diver can slip through. With a lot of skill and a bit of luck, a well-executed dive minimizes the risk of injury and maximizes the possibility of taking home a medal.
How to Watch the Summer Olympic Games
Every day during the Summer Olympics, NBC will offer fans at least nine hours of daytime coverage of the Games’ most exciting events, including live finals coverage of swimming, gymnastics, track and field, and more. Considering the time difference (Paris is six hours ahead of the U.S.’s eastern time zone), fans will be able to watch the day’s most popular events live on NBC in the morning and afternoon. NBC will also deliver an enhanced Olympics primetime show each night, providing three hours of must-see entertainment.
In addition, every event from the Summer Olympics will be broadcast live on Peacock, which will be home to an innovative Olympics hub that will include "curated rails of live and upcoming events, dedicated in-depth hubs for nearly 40 sports, medal standings and an interactive schedule."
Complete Schedule for Olympic Swimming Events
Saturday, July 27
5:00 a.m. ET: Women’s Synchro 3m Springboard Final
Monday, July 29
5:00 a.m. ET: Men’s Synchro 10m Platform Final
Wednesday, July 31
5:00 a.m. ET: Women’s Synchro 10m Platform Final
Friday, August 2
5:00 a.m. ET: Men’s Synchro 3m Springboard Final
Monday, August 5
4:00 a.m. ET: Women’s 10m Platform Preliminary
9:00 a.m. ET: Women’s 10m Platform Semifinal
Tuesday, August 6
4:00 a.m. ET: Men’s 3m Springboard Preliminary
9:00 a.m. ET: Women’s 10m Platform Final
Wednesday, August 7
4:00 a.m. ET: Men’s 3m Springboard Semifinal
9:00 a.m. ET: Women’s 3m Springboard Preliminary
Thursday, August 8
4:00 a.m. ET: Women’s 3m Springboard Semifinal
9:00 a.m. ET: Men’s 3m Springboard Final
Friday, August 9
4:00 a.m. ET: Men’s 10m Platform Preliminary
9:00 a.m. ET: Women’s 3m Springboard Final
Saturday, August 10
4:00 a.m. ET: Men’s 10m Platform Semifinal
9:00 a.m. ET: Men’s 10m Platform Final
Watch live coverage of the Opening Ceremony on Friday, July 26, on NBC and Peacock beginning at 12 p.m. ET. Telemundo will provide Spanish-language coverage beginning at 1 p.m. ET. Primetime coverage starts at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on NBC and Peacock.
