How Does Synchronized Diving Work?

Short answer

Two divers (usually) do the same dive, at the same time, off two boards side by side.

And separate judges will look at the synchronization and individual performance of the dives.

The judging is the interesting part

I cover this very deeply in my how diving scoring works article, so get the details there.

A synchro event typically uses eleven judges, and they're doing two different jobs.

Six of them judge execution. Three watch one diver, three watch the other, and they score exactly what they'd score in an individual event. Takeoff, position, form, entry.

The other five judge synchronization only. They aren't scoring whether the dive was good. They're scoring whether the two divers were doing the same thing at the same time.

Which produces a result that confuses people watching.

Two divers can each perform a mediocre dive and score well if they were perfectly matched.

Two divers can also rip a dive and score poorly if one was noticeably ahead of the other.

What the synchro judges are actually watching

• The takeoff. Did they leave the board at the same moment?
• Height. Did they get the same amount of air?
• Rotation speed. Are they at the same point in the somersault at the same time?
• Angles in the air. Do the shapes match?
• Distance from the board. Are they the same distance out?
• The entry. Did they hit the water together, at the same angle, with similar splash?

That last one is the most visible and what casual viewers see the best, but it's only one piece. A pair can enter together and still lose synchro points if they got there differently.

Why matching is harder than it looks

The two divers are usually not the same size, weight, or build. They will have different strengths, and at various points in training, one diver may be struggling with distance from the board while the other is struggling with spotting or something else.

So a synchro pair isn't two people doing their own dive next to each other. It's two people adjusting their own technique until the two dives look like one.

That often means one diver changing something they'd never change individually. A slightly different fulcrum setting, a slightly different hurdle, holding a position a beat longer. You're optimizing for matching, not just for your own best dive.

And you can't watch each other perfectly. You are able to see them out of the corner of your eye as you do your board work, but once it's time for the takeoff, you have to look at what you're doing.

The timing is built in practice through thousands of repetitions and a verbal count on the takeoff.

The Olympic events

Four of the eight diving events are synchro:

• Men's 3m synchronized springboard
• Men's 10m synchronized platform
• Women's 3m synchronized springboard
• Women's 10m synchronized platform

Each country can enter one team per event. The full breakdown is on what are the 8 Olympic diving events.

- DG