35 Thoughts Swimmers Have While Watching Diving
By Chandler Brandes, Swimming World College Intern
It’s a safe assumption to say that the vast majority of swimmers — including myself — do not understand diving. Those combinations of numbers and letters and twists and flips and diving lingo is all foreign to us. As swimmers, we have to ask ourselves: are divers this confused by swimming as we are by diving?
Here are 35 thoughts swimmers have when watching diving:
- Diving is so much cooler than swimming.
- What do those numbers and letters mean?
- I’m pretty sure that’s higher than 3 meters.
- How was that not a 10?
- How do they even score a 10?
- I could totally do that.
- Just kidding, no way could I ever do that.
- How do they know where they are when they resurface?
- If I tried that dive, there’s no way I’d ever resurface.
- What does “201C” mean? Is it secret diver code?
- How can they remember what each dive is?
- That was WAY too close to the board!
- What’s the difference between a 6 and a 6.5?
- Okay, that was definitely a 10.
- Why is there no 2 meter?
- I get more nervous watching diving than I do before my own races.
- Wait, was that their third or fourth dive?
- What on earth is a 5122D?
- I totally thought she was going to hit the board that time.
- How does scoring work for diving?
- How does scoring even work for swimming?
- That was DEFINITELY a 10.
- HOW WAS THAT NOT A 10?!
- I wish I was that graceful.
- I wouldn’t even have enough coordination to climb up the ladder.
- How did they get into diving in the first place?
- What am I swimming next?
- OH MY GOD THEY HIT THE BOARD.
- Nope, they didn’t, but that was way too close.
- Do divers ever wish they were swimmers?
- Probably not.
- What dive are they on? Number five?
- I should become a diver.
- Nah, I should stick with swimming.
- Wow, divers really don’t get enough credit.
…and there are many, many more questions and thoughts swimmers have about diving. It’s easy for diving to get overshadowed by swimming, but let’s not forget that we are a swimming and diving team. I talked to my teammates who are divers, and shammies have an actual purpose, and no—their hot tub is not just for lounging.
Photo Courtesy: Brian Jenkins-Vermont Athletics
36. Maybe I chose the wrong sport. They spend like… 2 seconds in the water and then get to go sit in the hot tub.
Hope this was a joke…in freezing cold weather staying in the pool is the BEST THING ON EARTH…going in and out non stop especially for practice is miserable.
The dive well is way warmer then the pool
36. Is everyone looking at my butt?
HAHA this is funny. The swimmer thinking that or the diver? Because the diver is too busy making sure his/her butt is squeezed tight for the dive to overthink who is staring at it. 😀
Alice Mason legit us at aps finals night
Valerie Holden these are all true?❤️
Hahahaha this is great
Clearly written by jealous diver (see #1 as to legitimacy of argument) as frankly no swimmer cares about divers and in all the years I swam competitive I don’t once ever recall watching the diving competition.
You clearly did not swim in college because the divers are every bit as important as the swimmers when it comes to scoring points and being part of the team. In my program (D1 college) there is no division between the two, we are all one team
In the USA I think that diving and swimming are much closer. In the UK, diving is seen a a pain in the backside to swimming, mostly they are separate, we just (sadly) have the same swimming dominated governing body. This is probably one of the reasons we have lost so many diving facilities……
Dive numbers are logical!!
3 number dives.. Ist number is direction (group) of the dive 1= forward, 2= back= 3=reverse, 4== inward. 2nd number ‘flying’ somersault (1) or not (0). final number is the number of half somersaults.. 103 = forward 1 1/2 somersault. 4 number dives are ‘twisters’ 1st Number is 5 = twist, 2nd number = direction (as in a 3 number dive) 3rd number is number of 1/2 somersaults and the 4th number is the number of 1/2 twists. Easy once you get the hang of it! Agree with the comment about hanging around on poolside when it’s cold!
As stated, it IS swimming and diving, and a team with good divers can tip the scale. See D3 NCAA’s 2014.
Loosen up Scott, it just light humor, which clearly you’re missing.
We had to – but hated it!
If I was forced to, I certainly don’t remember it and probably slept anyway.
You are such a hero…
Tammy Lamberth
Patrick
Patrick
I was a great competitive swimmer and always wanted to dive. I decided in my late 30s to give masters diving a try and I love it I also get to compete as a novice at GB masters events through the year. Don’t knock it until you have tried it!!!!
Andrea Michelle jajaja
Is it over yet? I need to get in the pool.
Matt Morrison me
?
?
Thanks, but no. I’d rather swim. I could see myself getting a concussion there.
Thanks, but no. I’d rather swim. I could see myself getting a concussion there.
Eboney Olver Josh Stahl Josh Brien
Eboney Olver Josh Stahl Josh Brien
Gloria Ivanova
100% accurate! Kiana Katlyn Morgan Morgan Sydney
So true! Especially with the coordinated part and the graceful part
My thought would be:” really, divers don’t know how to swim?!!!”.
Mowgli
Swimming any day over diving
as a diver, I think this list is really cute and nice! thanks for the input 🙂
My main thought was how quickly can we get to the other end of the pool and catch the diver and pull them down as we swam by.
The games we played during practice and the fun ?
Victoria Miller
At smaller schools, the divers are also swimmers, right Rachel?
Yes
Maggie Vaitkus
Amber Nguyen this is what we do when we see u dive
I like the article. It was so funny ?? I think I could never be able to do that ☝?️??
I hate to say this, but the only thing the swimmers on the high school team are thinking is, “can’t this be done already”.
Kensie Sasha Nathan Caleb Aaron sounds like us ?
So true haha Sydni
Alyssa Andrews when we were watching the diving that time ??
Yes!! ?
Ashley Nguyen
I was both, always liked diving better
My little guy is 10. At the last meet there were several diving boards and his coach dared him to go up. NO FEAR! And after seeing everything was blocked off, asked, “well how am I supposed to get up there?”
Anthony Isabella Jr.
This is awesome. Lol
Lindsay Andrew
Maybe we taught them something ?
Madison Brace ?
Alexander ??? #25 best one??
Shahbaz Shahnazi Regina Diensthuber Alba Doujenis
Habiba Ashraf Shoeib
My first thought is “oooooooh are they going to do a fancy backflip this time?”
Allison Hodgin
Shut up this is so funny!!!!! I love this!!!
Except for you, Laurie J Alioto!
Are you kidding me? Every dive meet I end up swearing and burying my head in the lap of the person next to me who I usually have never met. Then there is uncomfortable laughter but a quiet acceptance of the terrors and anxiety of watching a diving competition. The kid was a double winner at the Luther Invite last week and the UW-Oshkosh dual meet yesterday. Last week was lots of records for her!
Scott Richadson…what a ass holes thing to say….
Robert Cheng
I always got mad watching them “goofing around” in deep end while we worked our butts off.
You’re right, doing 3 flips from 10 feet in the air is just messing around and doesn’t require any hard work
I never could stand it when the girls’ diving team was practicing when we were. I kept expecting someone to smack their head against the board. Didn’t help that the captain of the dive team had busted an ear drum the year before I joined the swim team. She never got back into the pool but stayed on as captain her senior year.
I think that it is so cool how the actual dive into the water is exactly the opposite of how a swimmer does a racing start. The diver has to stop themselves once they enter the water, otherwise they will go too deep and possibly hit the bottom. They create drag with their hands to literally stop their motion. While the swimmer is diving in and trying to maximize their distance underwater. That is what I am thinking while swimming and watching the divers at the Nassau county aquatic center in new york.