Diving is the
sport of jumping or falling into water from a
platform or
springboard, sometimes while performing
acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the
Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.
Diving is one of the most popular
Olympic sports with spectators. Competitors possess many of the same characteristics as
gymnasts and
dancers, including strength, flexibility,
kinaesthetic judgment and air awareness. Some professional divers were originally gymnasts or dancers as both the sports have similar characteristics to diving.
The success of
Greg Louganis has led to American strength in diving internationally. China came to prominence when the sport was revolutionized by national coach
Liang Boxi. Other noted countries in the sport include Russia, Great Britain, Italy, Australia and Canada.