When I was in primary school, the supposed "advanced swimmers" among us had diving lessons at our local pool, while those slightly more inexperienced learnt the basics of how not to sink in the shallow end. Sadly my diving career never launched, probably because I wasn't very good at it, but this didn't stop me appreciating the art of it. Since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, I have always loved watching diving at the Games.
Beijing is the first Olympics I can remember watching, and I have memories of avidly following Great Britain's daily progress on CBBC's Newsround. As a young British athlete at just 15 years old, with an incredibly down-to-earth, endearing personality, Tom Daley rightfully dominated much of the UK's Olympic coverage. Tom was my first introduction to the world of Olympic diving, and I've enjoyed watching the sport at every Games since.
I understand none of the terminology that they use, but that's okay. They do twists and turns and rotations and spins, but the commentators use much more technical names. Even from my incredibly inexperienced perspective, I can appreciate the beauty of the sport. The way the divers contort their bodies never fails to astound me as they twist into a range of positions in just mere seconds. That's one aspect of diving that keeps me so engaged when watching - because each dive is so short, I can't help but pay attention, compared to some much longer sports than can become repetitive and monotonous.
As someone who loves statistics, the scoring system genuinely intrigues me - it's a bit like watching Eurovision.
If none of that is enough to convince you, just google "diving faces". I promise you won't be disappointed.
Grace Dean
