Why is water sprayed into the Olympic pool during high diving?

THE Olympic games are bound by rules to ensure the safety of the athletes – diving is no different.

Fans glued to the Paris 2024 Olympics Games have noticed that when divers are about to enter the pool, sprinklers spray water onto the pool’s surface.

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Why is water sprayed into the Olympic pool during high diving?

Spraying the water is a technique used as a safety precaution for Olympic divers to prevent injury.

Olympic divers can break the water at speeds as fast as anywhere up to 60 mph, therefore water is sprayed onto the pool to help break the surface tension.

If the surface of the water is not broken up it can be painful for the diver and increase the risk of injury.

Spray also helps the diver perform more accurately as with the help of these water agitation systems, they can see the water better when approaching its surface.

The World Aquatics – the governing body recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) – oversees all aquatic water sports for both Olympic and international diving competitions.

Spraying the Olympic pools is one of the requirements of World Aquatics to ensure the safety of athletes to prevent injuries.

World Aquatics, rule 3.1.3.10 of the facilities guidelines states:

“Mechanical surface agitation shall be installed under the diving facilities to aid the divers in their visual perception of the surface of the water.

“In pools equipped with an underwater bubble machine, the machine shall only be used for the purpose if it creates sufficient water agitation when working with a very low pressure; otherwise a horizontal water sprinkler system shall only be used.”

It’s not a new procedure, the safety technique also featured in the preceding Tokyo 2020 Olympics as well.

What would happen if water wasn’t sprayed into the Olympic pool?

If the sprinkler system wasn’t in place, the visibility of the water would be more difficult to see for divers.

The water would feel like a sheet of glass if the pressure of the water from the sprinklers didn’t make ripples on the surface.

It’s important to decrease the impact for divers as they break the water to reduce their chances of injury during competitions.

Speaking on her experience, former US Olympic diver Kassidy Cook said: “People have no idea.”

“When you hit the water, it’s as hard as concrete for a split-second before you break through.”

Each dive can send shock waves through the athlete’s muscle, ligament and bone as they hit the water, which is why diving is regarded as a contact sport.

Common injuries include concussions, and pulmonary contusions which are bruises on the lungs due to the force of impact.

Other potential injuries that divers hope to avoid are the possibility of broken wrists, dislocated shoulders and ruptured eardrums.

Team US diver Brandon Loschiavo, who was a last-minute add for Paris 2024 Olympics, competed in Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games with a screw in his surgically repaired wrist following a diving injury.

Sharing his thoughts on the contact sport of diving he said: “Diving beats you up.”