# Do swimming pools still have high dives? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 2, 2007, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449 "2007-06-02T03:17:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/41 "2011-07-18T14:53:28Z")
I just got home a few minutes ago from our local swimming pool, where my kids were jumping off the diving boards. They have a separate dive pool there and after swim team practice, all the kids get a few turns at jumping or diving. I’m not sure of the exact measurements, but there’s one board that looks like it’s about 1 meter and a “high dive” board that’s probably about 4 meters. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/42 "2011-07-18T15:47:25Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Yes, a bunch of people although none with lasting consequences other than scars. It usually happens when boys try to do a trick outside of their ability level and end up smacking their head or upper body on the board resulting in body or head trauma. . I have known 3 people each of whom permanently lost eyesight in one eye. 2 of them hit the diving board, 1 of them dove onto someone else in the water. (I was told that 1 of these 3 who hit the diving board actually had his eye pop out when his head slammed into the board). I knew another who was permanently paralyzed when he dove into shallow water . I think if you do not hit the board, do not hit anyone in the water, and do not dive too high nor dive into shallow water, and if you can swim, then a diving board is not dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Doctor\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Who)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/43 "2011-07-18T16:21:04Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Hell, when I was in high school, we used to move the lever, or knob, or whatever it was, that adjusted how “springy” the diving board was, and none of the pool staff ever said a word. > > (Of course, I SUCK at diving, and I always have, so I usually just jumped off. Shut up). > > :o 😉 It’s called a fulcrum. [http://diving.about.com/od/divingglossary/g/fulcrumDef.htm](http://diving.about.com/od/divingglossary/g/fulcrumDef.htm) ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/44 "2011-07-18T17:43:08Z")
My old hometown pool had a high dive and two low dives until they completely remodeled the pool in the 90s. [Before](http://www.flickr.com/photos/neenahhistory/5547005453/) [After](http://www.ci.neenah.wi.us/assets/galleries/57/playinginthepool.jpg) Poor kids have to make do with water slides nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/45 "2011-07-18T21:43:39Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Your pic shows a small bridge about 8 feet above a small creek. 😕 tap..tap…is this thing on? There is a running joke throughout this thread regarding the exaggeration of heights due to the faulty memory of youth. However, the bridge is about 30-35 feet tall (note the lamp-post) and the river about 30 yards across. [(here is another photo with a person for a bit of scale)](http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/02/48/22/2482246_637b3ed0.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/2482246&usg=__kdxEc0UDBMZqIJNfsBRZj44-3qY=&h=480&w=640&sz=149&hl=en&start=32&sig2=j1JAin0oSO6-X1G6LBpqSg&zoom=1&tbnid=xGL7zemiPQLqDM:&tbnh=156&tbnw=189&ei=CqgkTtvxCcPMswbyz9DCCQ&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dcounty%2Bbridge%2Bbarnard%2Bcastle%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DX%26biw%3D1280%26bih%3D662%26tbm%3Disch&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=982&vpy=363&dur=3192&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=186&ty=116&page=3&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:32&biw=1280&bih=662) So from the top of the scaffolding was the equivalent of a 10 metre platform and the bit about the narrow deep channel is perfectly true. Plus it was April and the water temp. was about 10-12C…and there were killer brown trout in there. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/46 "2011-07-19T03:11:49Z")
[QUOTE=John DiFool] Did anyone ever personally know anyone who got hurt jumping off one-high or low or whatever? [/QUOTE] When I was in band camp (seriously) a kid launched himself up and out off the high dive (3 meter), knifed through the water and hit the shallow to deep transition slope and broke a tooth. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/47 "2011-07-19T03:36:30Z")
Thanks, **Doctor Who**. I have a feeling that wouldn’t fly nowadays. I haven’t been there in years, but from what I’ve gathered, they’ve expanded the pool, added more boards (just regular ones), and a water slide. There was never a high dive there that I knew of. (And I wouldn’t have used it if there was – I’m terrified of heights) ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/48 "2011-07-19T06:54:11Z")
My local when I was a kid still has its 10 metre tower. I used to dive head first off it, I reckoned that was safer than bombing. > **[Canberra Olympic Pool | The Y](https://www.canberraolympicpool.com.au/)** > > Canberra Olympic Pool. Swimming. Gym. We’re more than just a place to get fit. We’re your community hub. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/49 "2011-07-19T14:06:54Z")
> [@Cugel](#): > > My local when I was a kid still has its 10 metre tower. I used to dive head first off it, I reckoned that was safer than bombing. > [Page not found - Canberra Olympic Pool](http://www.canberraolympicpool.com.au/fun-days) Yah, but you guys in Australia start out way lower than us. ---
**Author:** ![brix11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c37758/32.png) [@brix11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brix11)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/50 "2011-07-19T18:18:25Z")
The humungous [Crystal Pool](http://coaster-net.com/pics/knoebels/pool1_coastercrochunis.jpg) at Knoebel’s, a northeastern Pennsylvania amusement park, still has 1-m and 3-m diving boards. I was there this summer and got my son to go down one of the slides in exchange for my jumping (I never learned how to properly dive) off the high-dive. As I am not a big fan of heights, this was not an experience I cared to repeat. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/51 "2011-07-19T18:24:09Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I knew this one guy who was on the University of Wisconsin’s dive team. He did the most amazing dive. The Triple Lindey… or something like that. And, yet, he still got no respect. (I was a student at the UW when “Back to School” was filmed there. They used the exterior of my dorm for a few scenes. But, the diving scenes were all filmed in California. You could tell because the trees were all wrong…) ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/52 "2011-07-19T19:09:35Z")
We still have a high dive and a lower board at our pool in Atlanta. Great fun. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2011, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/53 "2011-07-19T19:41:10Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > We still have a high dive and a lower board at our pool in Atlanta. Great fun. Does your lab get to join the fun (assuming by your handle that you have one)? ---
**Author:** ![Pablo\_O\_Malley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f19dbf/32.png) [@Pablo\_O\_Malley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pablo_O_Malley)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/54 "2012-02-13T05:30:51Z")
in my town, diving boards were banned for people with private pools because every time someone dove into the pool off one, too much water splashed out of the pool and was wasted and had to eventually be refilled and this wasted water…so diving in from the side of the pool doesnt waste water? apparently not as much ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/55 "2012-02-13T11:46:46Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > Did anyone ever personally know anyone who got hurt jumping off one-high or low or whatever? I ruptured my left calf muscle on the low dive at my then local Y. I needed help getting out of the pool, went to the ER, and didn’t involve the Y in any way with legal/insurance issues. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/56 "2012-02-13T12:22:34Z")
I splatted face first from a 5m tower while in a kayak – was bruised a bit on my thighs. I was trying for an ender, but slightly over-rotated. The bubbler was not activated (can’t do good enders if the bubbler is used). It is amazing how much difference a well timed bubler shot can make to the impact. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/57 "2012-02-13T14:19:09Z")
I’ve made [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LmS9afrcaJU&feature=related)jump. (That’s not me in the vid, but I’ve done that same jump) ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/58 "2012-02-13T15:44:50Z")
I hit my chin in a HS swim meet on a 1m board doing a back somersault…luckily the board was on its way down on impact and I only suffered a scrape on my Adam’s apple and a sore jaw. I knew something was amiss when I heard the crowd collectively gasp as I was in midair. Didn’t score too well on that one… I have old 8mm footage of me jumping off a 3m board at 5 years old. On a slightly related note to this thread, I remember my bewilderment upon gazing at the “[Cannonball Loop](http://www.popularmechanics.com/outdoors/sports/physics/4323692)” slide at Action Park in NJ in the 80’s. It was closed that day, although I think I had the common sense back then not to consider it. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449/59 "2012-02-13T16:30:44Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > When I was 10, I was the only kid on the planet that climbed all the way to the top of the high dive, walked out to the end, turned around and climbed all the way back down. I still have nightmares. Correction: One of TWO kids on the planet to do this. I remember standing there for a few looong seconds, then coming to my senses and climbing my ass back down the ladder. (I’ve also been terrified of diving into ANY water head-first since I saw the movie “Joni” as a little kid and will.not.do.it.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-swimming-pools-still-have-high-dives/406449.md?page=2)