Virginia Water Safety Coalition

  Water Safety Resource Kit

Do's and Don'ts of Diving

"Diving is a sport that almost everyone can enjoy, either as a participant or as a spectator.  But as with every other sport, injuries can spoil the fun for everyone.  So get the most pleasure from diving and to avoid serious injuries, don't take needless risks.  And learn some basic rules for safe diving."---Greg Louganis

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Think Ahead

Once you've started your dive, you don't have time to think.  Know the depth of the water.  Plan your dive path.  Never dive where you don't know water depth or where there may be hidden obstructions.

Steer Up

When you dive down, you must be ready to steer up.  As you enter the water, your arms must be extended over your head, hands flat and aiming up.  Hold your head up and arch your back.  This way, your whole body helps you steer up, away from the bottom.

Plan a shallow dive, immediately steering up.  Don't try to the straight vertical-entry dives you see in competition.  These dives take a long time to slow down and must be done only after careful training and in pools designed for competitive diving.

Heads and Hands Up

Your extended arms and hands not only help you steer up to the surface, they can also protect your head.  If a diver's head hits bottom, major injury to neck and spine can result.  So always remember, head and hands up!

Control Your Dive

Sometimes divers lose control through improper use of hands and arms.  Practice holding your arms extended hands flat and tipped up.  Like learning to swim or ride a bicycle, you have to learn to make the right moves automatically.  Carefully rehearse the proper diving techniques before you dive.

Greg Louganis on Diving Safety

"I urge each and every one of you to follow these safety rules and urge your friends to follow them as well.  Because no one wants to end up in a wheelchair for the rest of their life or end up without a life at all."

Some Do's and Don'ts of Diving

Do's:

• Do know the water depth before you dive.
• Do plan your dive depth
• Do be sure there are no submerged obstacles or surface obstacles
• Do hold your head up, arms up, and steer up with your hands.
• Do keep arms extended and head and hands up during dive.
• Do practice carefully before you dive in.
• Do swim and dive with "buddy"
• Do test the diving board for its spring before using
• Do remember that when you dive down, you must steer up.
• Do keep your dives simple.

Don'ts:

• Don't dive into a submerged pool or into the shallow end of a pool.  Nine of ten diving injuries occur in six feet of water or less.  
• Don't dive off the side of a diving board--dive straight ahead
• Don't dive from the edge across the narrow part of a pool without having at least 25 feet of clear dive path in front of you.
• Don't run and dive.  That can give you the same impact as a dive from a board
• Don't do a backdive
• Don't try fancy dives or dives with straight vertical entry
• Don't dive at or through objects such as inner tubes
• Don't put diving equipment on a pool that wasn't designed for it.
• Don't dive from retaining walls, ladders, slides, or other pool equipment.
• Don't dive from rooftops, balconies, ledges or fences
• Don't dive from racing start blocks without direct supervision and the training of a qualified coach.
• Don't dive into unfamiliar bodies of water.  Remember, 3 of 4 diving accidents happen in natural bodies of water like lakes and rivers.
• Don't swim and dive alone
• Don't drink and drive.  The slowing effects of alcohol or drugs on reaction time can be extremely dangerous in diving.

*This information is based on research sponsored by the National Swimming Pool Foundation, which resulted in a film by Greg Louganis, 1984 Olympic Diving Champion.

Courtesy of:

National Swimming Pool Foundation, P.O. Box 495, Merrick, NY 11566, (516) 623-3447, www.nspf.com