Splashdiving: A Twist on Competitive Diving That’s All About the Splash

Photo Courtesy: Flickr

By Kaylie Williams, Swimming World College Intern.

What happened when a group of German adrenaline junkies decided to add their own twist to the finessed sport of diving? Splashdiving was born! Interested? Read on to find out about this odd sport and how it grew into a worldwide competition!

What in the World is Splashdiving?

Just the word “splashdiving” itself evokes curiosity in conversation. Splashdiving was created in 2003 by Oliver Shil and his friends as a thought turned reality almost overnight. The idea for splashdiving began as a cheeky way to catch the attention of the ladies at the local pool. Right away, Shil created rules for the competition and thought of ways to turn this neighborhood cannonball contest into an internationally recognized watersport competition with over 6,000 spectators and full media coverage.

Photo Courtesy: flickr, laura_wee

Today, over 1,000 divers compete in this worldwide freestyle diving competition. Splashdiving.com defines the sport as, “…all freestyle dives carried out from a diving platform….divers have the possibility to create their own freestyle elements while performing the dive.” These freestyle dives, unlike those of Olympic diving, usually end in some variation of a cannonball, as the goal of this competition is to make the biggest splash possible.

To create the biggest splash, divers use 13 different cannonball variations, also known as “splashdowns.” As if the thought of completing a dive finished with a cannonball wasn’t odd enough, there are comical names to accompany each of the splashdowns. Athletes refer to the various finishes by using names like the Ripper, Anchor, Chair, Cannonball, Open Cannonball, Cannonball Yogi, Small Cat, Big Cat, Brauni, Board, Open Board, Potato and open L-Vis. However, due to the creative nature of the sport, new splashdowns are accepted in competition, and after many tests, can even be accepted into the sport. Check out the video above for highlights from the 2015 World Championships.

Rules and Scoring

Photo Courtesy: flickr, @laura_wee

You might be asking, “How does one even judge a competition like this?” The answer is – pretty easily. Each diver has four dives to complete, and the diver must begin the dive 30 seconds after the whistle is blown. The first dive is solely judged on the size of the splash, so for this reason it lacks acrobatic freestyle elements. After that, the diver is free to complete any dive with his or her freestyle variations incorporated into it. Since the goal of this competition is to be as innovative and creative as possible, judges will award more points for freestyle elements such as handstands, palm flips and grabs. Judges assess three parts of each dive: takeoff, execution and landing. Then they score the dives on a scale from one to 10 – the more you splash, the better. All of the points are added up, and the diver with the most points in the end wins!

X Games or Olympic Games?

Photo Courtesy: Flickr

Although each of the athletes who dives from the platform has the potential to compete at the Olympic level, splashdiving remains more of a freestyle show fit for the X Games. Yet, within the sport, there are two sections and four levels of competition that each athlete can progress through. Each diver can choose to compete in show diving or contest diving. In order to get to the worldwide stage, divers must make it through the Specials, the Cup, the Championship and eventually the World Championships of Splashdiving.

Most of the athletes find their way to splashdiving from other sports because of the emphasis on fun and individual expression through freestyle elements in each dive. It may be less serious than Olympic diving, but athletes still undergo immense amounts of training and practice in order to call themselves splashdivers. The dynamic and creative space for splashdiving athletes means that the sport is ever-changing, always evolving and growing to allowing more innovative and insane dives into the lineup. This constantly pushes the athletes to reach their potential. To these athletes, having fun trumps any amount of physical pain they feel from the splash. By perpetuating the less serious side of competition, they grow their creative, adrenaline-driven and fun-loving community each day.

-All commentaries are the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Swimming World Magazine nor its staff.

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