Diving competitions are held at various levels. Usually, the number of divers varies with age group. A diver is represented by a code of three or four digits followed by a single letter. The judges evaluate the divers' knowledge and practice by referring to the diver number.

A smooth surface of water often causes difficulty for athletes to evaluate the distance on water. So, many competition pools provide machines that agitate the water under springboards and platforms. It is easy to judge distances on an agitated water surface.

Most Olympic and world championship competitions consist of three sessions. The first session is called preliminaries. In this session, the diver order is randomly selected. The divers perform a number of dives during this session. Men usually perform six dives and women five dives. The top 18 divers can take part in the next session called semifinals. They follow the same diver order in this session also. Each diver performs another list of dives within the level of difficulty. Generally, men and women perform five dives from the 3 m springboard and four dives from the 10 m platform. The preliminary and semifinals scores are added together. The top 12 divers can take part in the finals. In this session, divers perform in the reverse order of their position. That is, the lowest-scoring diver will go first. Men perform six dives and women five dives.

The scores of the semifinals and finals are added together after the finals. The diver who achieves the highest score wins the competition.

Diving provides detailed information on Diving, Scuba Diving, Sky Diving, Cliff Diving and more. Diving is affiliated with Swimming Pool Supplies.