As the diver stood at the edge of the diving board, we all held our breath. One, two, three bounces. She jumped, twisted, and entered the water. The scores: 6, 7, 6.5. The swimmers relaxed, let out a collective sigh of relief, and clapped for the surfacing diver. That final dive secured the dual-meet win.
This uncertainty in the outcome of the meets was often one the Hillsdale College swimming and diving team felt during their regular season. The team finished the regular season this year with seven wins and one loss. Last year, we went 5-5. The most obvious difference was the addition of a diver to our swimming and diving program.
Yet if swimming and diving were scored separately, our record could have been a lot closer to 7-1 last year. The NCAA should separate these two sports.
There were several dual swim meets last year that came down to diving. But because Hillsdale lacked a diving team, we would automatically start out nine or more points behind our competition. We made up a lot of those points last year, but we could not always overcome the deficit.
Swimming and diving both require a pool but are two totally different sports. If the location of a sport makes it the same, then why not have a figure-skating competition at the intermissions of a hockey games and count those points as hockey goals?
The training for swimming and diving is also totally different. Swimming requires more endurance and strength training. Diving is more acrobatic and requires more flexibility. Good divers often start out as gymnasts. But swimmers and divers rarely cross over from one sport to the other. World-class swimmers don’t practice pike dives in their free time.
Swimming and diving are recognized as two different sports in the Olympics as well as in club competition. But the NCAA has combined them. The swimming and diving team travel together to help keep down the costs, and swimmers benefit from the diving breaks during meets. But swimming and diving could still be scored separately. That way neither is helped nor harmed by the performance of the other. A diving team could win while the swim team lost and vice versa.
When a swim meet comes down to whether or not a diver can complete dive 104C with 20 or more points, that’s not fair. And when a diving competition comes down to who wins the last freestyle relay, that’s not fair either. It takes away from both sports.
