A survey of the regulations governing the selection of dives for collegiate competition in dual and championship meets from 1924 through 1953 and the opinions of selected experts concerning these regulations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine which of the regulations governing the selection of dives from 1924 through 1953 has best provided all divers with an equal opportunity to demonstrate their diving abilities in collegiate competition. In 1924 when competitive diving was a relatively new sport, the National Collegiate Athletic Association adopted competitive diving as a standard event in collegiate dual and championship swimming meets. The number of competitors was few, and the diving rules and regulations were scanty. Since that time, however, competitive diving has been subjected to so many new developments, such as the construction of modern swimming pools, the perfection of diving boards and diving stands, and the Introduction of new dlves, that it has become a highly competitive sport with a great number of contestants. The prevalence of competitive diving has been credlted generally to the influence of the Olympic Games; to the adoption of swimming and diving by nearly every college and university in the United States. These new developments have encouraged better coaching of diving and the frequent revision of rules and regulations which govern competitive diving. The changes have been concerned chiefly with the regulations governing the selection of dives, because these regulations determine the number and the kind of dives to be performed by competitors.