Safety Precautions For Diving into a Swimming Pool

 

Risks of diving into a pool:

(1) cervical neck injury with spinal cord injury

(2) head injury with loss of consciousness

(3) lacerations

(4) fractures

 

General prohibitions:

(1) No diving without someone else in attendance.

(2) No drinking or drugs allowed.

(3) No roughhousing.

 

Precautions associated with diving boards:

(1) depth of water

(2) length of the diving well

(3) distance between boards or between a board and the edge of the pool

(4) distance extending from the pool wall

(5) if indoor pool, the free height above the board

Elevation of Board Above Water	Minimum Depth of Water Under End of Board	Minimum Length of the Diving Well
1.6 feet (0.5 meters)	9 feet (2.7 m)	25 feet (7.6 m)
3.3 feet (1.0 meters)	10 feet (3.1 m)	35 feet (10.7 m)
9.8 feet (3 meters)	12 feet (3.7 m)	40 feet (12.2 m)

 

An equation fitting the depth data (from JMP):

 

water depth in feet =

= (-0.0343 * ((height above water in feet)^2)) + (0.7558 * (height above water in feet)) + 7.878

 

The distance between the center line of the diving board and the side wall of the pool should be at least 12 feet (3.7 m).

 

The distance between 2 boards should be 12 feet (3.7 m) from center line to center line, or 10 feet (3.1 m) between the board edges.

 

Standard diving boards measure 14 to 16 feet (4.3 – 4.9 m) in length and 1.67 feet (0.509 m) wide. The front end of the board should be at least 5 feet (1.5 m) beyond the pool wall for a 14 foot board and 6 feet for a 16 foot board.

 

If the pool is indoors, then there should be at least 16 feet (5 meters) of headroom above the highest diving board.