# What is the purpose of the spray of water in competitive diving? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 14, 2008, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-spray-of-water-in-competitive-diving/459922 "2008-08-14T01:04:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-spray-of-water-in-competitive-diving/459922/21 "2008-08-14T23:02:37Z")
[QUOTE=Edward The Head] So is that the reason that they put their hands palm down? You could do the same thing with them in the same position that the swimmers do off the wall couldn’t you? I’ve tried to put my hands like I see them, though it’s difficult to see exactly how they do it, and I can’t. [/QUOTE] Swimmers are hitting the water at an angle, and their goal is to get through the water with as little resistance as possible. Divers are trying to hit the water vertically and resistance isn’t as much of a problem as getting your arms, head, torso, and legs all through the same hole your hands made. The bigger the hole the better. Divers with big hands are less likely to make a splash. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-spray-of-water-in-competitive-diving/459922/22 "2008-08-15T01:44:03Z")
How exactly do you hold your hands then? I’m not as flexible as I’d like to be, even though I am a swimmer. I can’t get my hands to face palm outwards without it hurting, and it happens way to quick to see and they don’t focus on that whenever I’ve watched. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-spray-of-water-in-competitive-diving/459922/23 "2008-08-15T02:22:57Z")
Hold your hands out in front of your face with your palms out, fingers splayed and both thumbs pointed down. Then grab one hand with the other (some people are right hand on top, some are left). It isn’t as taxing on your flexibility if you don’t have your arms all the way extended. [Here](http://www.usadiving.org/05redesign/divers/photo_galleries/World%20Championships%20Day%20One/pages/Mitch%20and%20Haley.htm) is a diver demonstrating while standing on the end of a board. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-spray-of-water-in-competitive-diving/459922/24 "2008-08-15T02:56:32Z")
[QUOTE=zagloba] Related question: [Why are the divers always showering between dives?](http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/The-mystery-of-the-showering-divers?urn=oly,100472) [/QUOTE] Another related question, why do they use those teeny tiny towels? ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-spray-of-water-in-competitive-diving/459922/25 "2008-08-15T03:01:10Z")
It’s a [Sammy](http://swimx.stores.yahoo.net/sammy.html) (chamois). Gets the water off and is reusable. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-spray-of-water-in-competitive-diving/459922/26 "2008-08-15T04:26:56Z")
[QUOTE=don’t ask] Like the medals it is a reminder of the days of the ancient Olympic Games when all the competitors competed in the nude, and due to the absence of toilets pissed in the high diving pool so that the divers could see the surface. [/QUOTE] They did not have any high diving competitions in the ancient Olympic Games. And there was no absence of toilets in ancient Greece. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-spray-of-water-in-competitive-diving/459922/27 "2008-08-15T12:18:08Z")
[QUOTE=USCDiver] Hold your hands out in front of your face with your palms out, fingers splayed and both thumbs pointed down. Then grab one hand with the other (some people are right hand on top, some are left). It isn’t as taxing on your flexibility if you don’t have your arms all the way extended. [/QUOTE] Excellent, Thank you. And I can actually do that. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-spray-of-water-in-competitive-diving/459922/28 "2008-08-15T22:55:35Z")
Ah! they’re 1920s-style depth sprays. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-spray-of-water-in-competitive-diving/459922/29 "2008-08-15T23:57:51Z")
[QUOTE=BrandonR] I thought it was to aerate the water’s surface so to create less surface tension once they hit the surface? Or is that only used for high(er) dives? [/QUOTE] I’m not sure how much effect that would have; some dive tank have aerators on the bottom to reduce the overall density of the water you’re going in to, but then it looks more like a giant hot-tub. A simple water jet wouldn’t get close to that. Apparently it’s [patented](http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3915450.html). My local sports centre has one in the dive tank. ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-spray-of-water-in-competitive-diving/459922/30 "2008-08-16T00:51:59Z")
[QUOTE=Nanoda] I’m not sure how much effect that would have; some dive tank have aerators on the bottom to reduce the overall density of the water you’re going in to, but then it looks more like a giant hot-tub. A simple water jet wouldn’t get close to that. Apparently it’s [patented](http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3915450.html). My local sports centre has one in the dive tank. [/QUOTE] That’s what we call a ‘bubbler’. It’s used in training to lessen the impact when you land on your nuts. Some places will put the system on a slow trickle of bubbles to serve the same purpose as the sprayers. ---
**Author:** ![BlackNGold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BlackNGold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackNGold)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-spray-of-water-in-competitive-diving/459922/31 "2008-08-16T13:35:55Z")
[QUOTE=USCDiver] That’s what we call a ‘bubbler’. It’s used in training to lessen the impact when you land on your nuts. [/QUOTE] How often does **THAT** happen?!!? How does one end up diving nuts-first? Is there a name for that dive? How big a splash does it make? I just gots to know… ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-spray-of-water-in-competitive-diving/459922/32 "2008-08-16T14:19:04Z")
[QUOTE=BlackNGold] How often does **THAT** happen?!!? How does one end up diving nuts-first? Is there a name for that dive? How big a splash does it make? [/QUOTE] Well, once is usually enough. 🙂 When learning a new dive I would have a few days (weeks) of really bad entries. Especially on blind entries it’s somewhat easy to open up at the completely wrong time. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-spray-of-water-in-competitive-diving/459922/33 "2008-08-16T15:24:16Z")
Maybe it’s to help the divers see the surface better. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-spray-of-water-in-competitive-diving/459922/34 "2008-08-16T21:16:00Z")
[QUOTE=CC] Maybe it’s to help the divers see the surface better. [/QUOTE] I doubt it. Someone would have mentioned it by now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-the-spray-of-water-in-competitive-diving/459922.md?page=1)