Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 18, 2022: FINA diving judge expert Maths Lindberg of Sweden joined the OCA youth camp on Thursday morning and provided a fascinating insight into the process of judging during diving competitions.
The young divers and their coaches benefited tremendously from the introduction to judging as the experienced Swede pointed out the intricacies of the system and informed the participants exactly what the judges were looking for to award a high score.
Equally, he also showed slides and video clips of where divers were going wrong and being deducted crucial points.
The main focus of the presentation was the five elements of a dive: starting position, approach, take-off, flight and entry in the water.
Maths attended the dryland and pool training sessions at Bukit Jalil on Wednesday and told the divers and coaches: “I was watching you yesterday afternoon and it was amazing what I saw from the coaches and divers.”
On the fifth point, entry into the water, he added: “Yesterday I saw some wonderful, beautiful entries. I was amazed by the no splash which we call a ‘rip entry’.”
The first three days of the seven-day youth camp have focused on the coaches and the athletes but the arrival of Lindberg will lead to a third element of the programme – judging.
“Judges, coaches and divers have to work together. They have to,” he said. “We have to start working more together to get safe sport and good judging.”
Lindberg said it was hard to be a diving judge as the judges can view a dive very differently from a coach; hence the need for the divers and coaches to understand what elements score well and what mistakes in technique can affect the overall score - even with a good entry.
The OCA youth camp will continue through to August 21 at the Pearl Hotel in Kuala Lumpur and at the National Aquatics Centre in Bukit Jalil.