Answered By Steve McFarland March 2009

What does diving offer young athletes? There are many benefits diving offers young athletes that come with this sport. If you speak to an expert in diving you will most commonly hear something about mental toughness, physical training and discipline. However, there is one characteristic in particular that I have not found in any other sport.

Most people who are involved with diving understand the mental aspect it requires and develops in its athletes. The focus on performance is a unique approach to competition. It changes the orientation most of us have regarding competition and internalizes it. By that I mean, divers are typically focused on what they must do to perform a particular dive in competition and not so focused on what their competition is doing.
In this regard, diving is much like golf which also demands a high level of internal focus and attention on performance to achieve the best possible shot. Then the process repeats itself again on the next shot, so it is the same in a diving competition.

Physical training is often associated with diving as it requires time and effort outside of the pool to train the body in the acrobatic demands of the sport. Diving requires many hours of dry land training together with time in the pool to perfect the accuracy diving requires. Training will often include time in the weight room, on the trampoline and in the gymnasium. It is a sport that requires many hours of effort outside of the pool. This is not unlike most sports that also demand outside training.

In order to be a diver, an athlete must have dedication and discipline. This is an important influence at a time in our culture when very few young people are exposed to these characteristics. Most divers who find the passion for this sport go on and do very well in life from the lessons learned as a competitive diver. But even these benefits are not only found in diving.

The one thing diving has that I have not found in other sports is the fellowship that divers enjoy for the rest of their lives. There is something about diving that connects people to each other. I am not a unique example of this connection. My wife was competitive diver whom I first met when she was a teenager training at a pool in which I was also diving. We were married at the Olympic Trials in 1988 so our closest friends, many competing or coaching in the event, could attend. My best man and closest friends who were in the wedding party were divers I met when I was ten years old at a diving camp in Phoenix, Arizona. I enjoy international friendships with former divers from all over the world whom I first met at international competitions. Many of these friends I sometimes visit in their countries or they come to my home and we resume our friendship from where we left off.

Diving is an amazing community of athletes, characters and life long friendships that you will find in no other sport. So if you feel the calling of this sport, prepare yourself to be involved and connected to it for the rest of your days. It is a life enriching experience.

2. What benefits should parents realistically expect from enrolling their children in diving?

For parents, diving can offer your children some enduring benefits and can also provide you some relief. Diving is a sport that if you children are taken by it, will provide them physical and mental benefits that will last them a very long time. But there is also another benefit of which you need to be aware.

Go to the NCAA web site and click on the publications link. There you can download a PDF file entitled "Participation Rates - 1981-82 - 2006-07 NCAA Sports." This report will give you and extensive overview of all NCAA sports and how they have been supported over a 26 year period. This will reveal some interesting things about diving as it is compared with other sports.

My favorite pages are 61 and 62 of this report. In this report you will see there are a total of 390 teams participating in Men's Swimming and Diving in the NCAA and there are 504 teams for Women's Swimming and Diving. Not all of these teams have diving programs or scholarships, but many do. The major point that parents should know is that diving is a sport which has opportunities beyond high school.

This is an important benefit for athletes who enjoy the sport and can continue to participate in a college environment. That means the physical demands and focus that parents want their children to have while they are still at home can continue when they leave for college! Having such continuity as children move on to college is a very big deal and diving has that to offer. This should provide some relief to parents who are looking ahead for their children and tying to find a sport that will provide a long lasting and healthy environment for years to come.