MAIN Sports 2012 Summer Olympics Diving

A combination of skill, courage, athletic training and ability, platform diving is almost as exciting for the spectators as it is for the divers.

One of the most popular TV and spectator events at the Summer Games, diving features all the spectacular thrills of watching a first-class Olympic gymnastics competition.

Diving was first introduced to the Summer Olympics at the 1904 St. Louis games, where the sport took on the nickname "fancy diving" for performances that included spectacular twists and somersaults.

Today, that same level of showmanship continues to wow the crowds at Olympic venues. Although there are a lot of technical aspects to the competition, suffice to say that a clean 'rip' - with no splash on entry - is a key component.

Olympic diving consists of dives from either a springboard or a fixed platform.

Judges s award points ranging from 0 to a "perfect 10" depending on the difficulty and number of maneuvers attempted before final splashdown.

Synchronized diving is another aspect of the Olympic competition in which pairs of athletes dive in tandem with additional points scored for their level of synchronisation.

More about Olympic diving around the Web:

Diving | Olympic sport | London 2012 - The official site with a great overview of diving competition rules, London event schedule and venue information, plus interesting background history and fun facts, news, photos.

International Olympic Committee - Diving - Good overview with a history of the Olympic diving event with rules & requirements, details on each competition, related Olympic & world records, Flash presentations and photo gallery of Olympic divers.

FINA - Diving - News & updates from the international federation on competitions worldwide.

USA Diving - Lots of info here including photos & bios of team USA divers with an archive of schedules and news headlines for each summer olympics diving event.

NBC Olympics - Diving - Official U.S. television coverage with the complete schedule, athletes to watch, the latest updates and feature stories, fan forum postings.

USADiver.com - Major site with extensive reporting on American high school, college and international competition news, photo gallery, related resources.

Diving Australia - Not a big focus on the Olympics at this site, but good coverage of the Australian divers and an up-to-date news and results section should keep you in the swim as the games progress.

Diving Plungeon Canada - All info on team Canada and Canadian diving meets. Updates on Olympic news.