PART I - COMPETITIVE & TECHNICAL RULES

SUBPART D -- MASTERS DIVING

Article 30 -- Objectives

130.1 To offer the opportunity to continue or re-institute conditioning in those over 21 years of age who may no longer be interested in diving in Senior open competition. Participation of those 21 through 24 years of age is recognized in the United States but is not recognized by FINA International Masters' ages.

130.2 To encourage and promote physical fitness and improvements in health in older individuals.

130.3 To offer encouragement to individuals, clubs, organizations, and communities in the organizing and conducting of life-long physical, recreational and competitive Masters programs.

130.4 To enhance fellowship among participants in Masters programs.

130.5 To stimulate interest in Masters programs at all levels of involvement - physical educators, clubs, organizations, recreation directors, communities, medical societies, and higher educational institutions.

130.6 To promote United States Diving throughout age-group, senior and masters programs.

130.7 To stimulate research in the physiology and psychology of Masters participation of basic and clinical research levels, and further, to investigate the benefits of continued exercise programs on aging processes, cardiopulmonary involvement, orthopedic problems, and other preventable debilitating processes.

130.8 To outline safe Masters programs in diving for individuals over 21 years of age, taking cognizance of previous diving prowess or participation, non-participation, gradual programming, physical condition and "medical wellness" of proposed participants.

130.9 To propose proper diving training for older age groups.

130.10 To consider programs which will provide goals towards which older participants can work, and motivation for continuing exercise regimens in spite of the inconveniences and the stresses of adult life.

130.11 To set up proper age groupings in the establishment of Masters diving programs, with well planned balancing of events and limitation of duration and stresses of competitive programs with relation to these factors.

130.12 To seek assistance for research programs in the medical aspects of Masters programs, and coordinate, if possible, present research programs in these areas.

Article 31 -- Rules For Masters Diving

131.1 Rules.

All rules and regulations as outlined in previous Articles shall apply to Masters Diving except as noted in these Articles. Articles or Sections specifically pertaining to Junior Olympic Diving or Senior Diving shall not apply unless indicated. Rules regarding execution of dives, degree of difficulty, selection of dives and scoring will govern all Masters competitions, except that in Masters Invitational Competition a diver may elect to change the dive any time prior to the execution of the dive. Divers must dive in their respective age group and at scheduled times and may not dive at other times in other events because of business or personal schedule/travel contingencies.

131.2 Registration.

Masters competition is open to athletes 21 years of age and over possessing a United States Diving Masters registration card, or in the case of a foreign diver, possessing a registration card from their respective National Governing Body (NGB).

131.3 Age Groups.

(a) Group I: 21-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70 and up.

(b) Group II: 21-24, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69, 70-74, 75-79, 80-84, etc.

(c) Group III (platform diving): 21-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80-89, 90 and up.

(d) National Championship meets shall consist of the age grouping in Group II and Group III above.

(e) Group I is suggested for Regional and Invitational Meets. The number of required and optional dives may vary from the number required for National Competition, at the discretion of the Meet Director.

131.4 Eligibility.

The eligibility of a participant for a particular age group will be determined by their age as of the first day of the meet. Divers registered as Masters may dive in Senior open competition, if they qualify, and Senior divers may dive in Masters competition in their respective age group, without forfeiting their Seniors eligibility. Note: In international competition, the age determination date is Dec. 31.

[Amended Sept. 14, 2002, effective Jan. 1, 2003]

131.5 Local Meets.

(a) In local Invitational Meets, competition may be conducted on either the 1-meter or 3-meter springboard, or the competitions may be conducted on an either/or basis, allowing the use of both boards. The conditions will be determined by the meet director.

(b)When platform facilities are available a meet may include the use of those facilities. The age breakdown and the number of dives required shall be at the discretion of the meet director.

Article 32 -- Masters National Invitational Championship Meets

132.1 National Championships.

Two U.S. Masters National Invitational Diving Championships shall be awarded:

(a) Men's and Women's Spring Masters Invitational Diving Championships; and

(b) Men's and Women's Summer Masters Invitational Diving Championships.

132.2 Schedule.

The Spring Meet shall be held between April 1 and May 31. The Summer meet shall be held between Aug. 1 and Sept. 30. National Invitational Championship meets may be held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday -- or -- Saturday, Sunday and Monday, at the discretion of the meet director. It is recommended that both of the U.S. Masters Diving National Invitational Championships be scheduled not to conflict with the corresponding USA Diving Senior National Championships.

132.3 Selection of Date and Site.

Selection of dates and sites shall depend on applications. Site selection shall be determined by considering zone rotation.

132.4 Bid awards.

At the meeting held in conjunction with the National Invitational Summer Masters Championships, both of the National Invitational Masters Diving Championship meets for the following year shall be awarded. (Note: The Masters National Chair can be contacted for meet application materials. Potential hosts must provide pool supervision and adequate medical care (or access thereto) for all practice and competition sessions. Such arrangements must be guaranteed in the meet application of every potential host.)

132.5 Entry fees.

Entry fees for National Invitational Championships shall be $70.00 per individual. This will apply to entry fees for all events and to the banquet ticket for each contestant. Additional banquet tickets will be made available for non-contestants based on the cost of the dinner, and should not exceed $25.00 apiece. Any changes to these prices must be approved by the USA Diving Masters Chair. There will be a late entry fee of $15 if an entry is submitted or postmarked after the deadline date. There will be no refund of monies.

[Amended Oct. 3, 1998, effective Jan. 1, 1999]

132.6 Financial report.

For all National Invitational Championships, a financial report must be completed and sent to the Masters National Chair no later than 60 days after completion of the meet. This report shall be forwarded to the National Office; copies shall be available to the membership upon request.

132.7 Order of events for National Invitational Championships:

(a) First Day (Simultaneous events)

Women's 50+ and Men's 65+ 1 Meter, Men's 50-64 3 Meter

Women's 21-34 3 Meter and Women's 35-49 1 Meter

Men's 21-34 3 Meter and Men's 35-49 1 Meter

Men's & Women's #3, #4 and #5 Grand Masters (50-64, 65-79, 80+)

(b) Second Day (Simultaneous events)

Men's 21-34 1 Meter and Men's 35-49 3 Meter

Women's 21-34 1 Meter and Women's 35-49 3 Meter

Women's 50+ and Men's 65+ 3 Meter, Men's 50-64 1 Meter

Men's & Women's #1 and #2 Grand Masters (21-34 and 35-49)

(c) Third Day

[Amended Sept. 13, 2003, effective Jan. 1, 2004]

(1) In odd-numbered years, the following order of events would apply:

Men's and Women's 50 and over platform

Men's and Women's 21-49 platform

Men's Synchronized Diving, Women's Synchronized Diving, all ages

Mixed Synchronized Diving, all ages

(2) In even-numbered years, the following order of events would apply:

Men's and Women's 21-49 platform

Men's and Women's 50 and over platform

Men's Synchronized Diving and Women's Synchronized Diving, all ages

Mixed Synchronized Diving, all ages

[Amended Oct. 3, 1998, effective Jan. 1, 1999]

(d) This is the recommended meet format and should facilitate an efficiently run event. This meet format may be changed only by approval of the Masters Chair (for that meet only) and must be distributed in the meet information. Events can be combined or further subdivided at the discretion of the Meet Director, but the relative order of events printed in the meet information must be maintained.

132.8 Grand Masters.

Those eligible to compete in Grand Masters events shall be those who have competed in the Olympic Games (representing any country), or who have placed in the top three places in a past Senior National Diving Championships, or who have won a Masters World Championship, or who have won an individual event at a previous USA Diving Masters National Invitational Championship. Grand Masters competition will be held for men and women in five divisions:

(a) #1 Grand Masters-- Age 21-34. Six dives.

(1) The contest shall consist of 3 dives from different groups with a total degree of difficulty not to exceed 5.8; followed by 3 dives without limit of degree of difficulty, one of which must be from Groups 1 or 4, one from Groups 2 or 3, and one which must be selected from Group 5. Five groups must be represented within the 6-dive list.

(2) Dives can be performed from any elevation (1M or 3M Springboard or 5M, 7.5M, or 10M Platform) at any time.

(b) #2 Grand Masters-- Age 35-49. Six dives.

(1) The contest shall consist of 3 dives from different groups with a total degree of difficulty not to exceed 5.8; followed by 3 dives without limit of degree of difficulty, one of which must be from Groups 1 or 4, one from Groups 2 or 3, and one which must be selected from Group 5. Five groups must be represented within the 6-dive list.

(2) Dives can be performed from any elevation (1M or 3M Springboard or 5M, 7.5M, or 10M Platform) at any time.

(c) #3 Grand Masters-- Age 50-64. Six dives.

(1) The contest shall consist of 3 dives from different groups with total degree of difficulty not to exceed 5.8; followed by 3 dives without limit of degree of difficulty, one of which must be from Groups 1 or 4, one from Groups 2 or 3, and one which must be selected from Group 5. Five groups must be represented in the 6-dive list.

(2) Dives can be performed from any elevation (1M or 3M Springboard or 5M, 7.5M, or 10M Platform) at any time.

(d) #4 Grand Masters-- Age 65-79. Six dives.

(1) The contest shall consist of 3 dives from different groups with a total degree of difficulty not to exceed 5.8; followed by 3 dives from different groups without limit of degree of difficulty. At least 4 groups of dives must be represented in the 6-dive list.

(2) Dives can be performed from any elevation (1M or 3M Springboard or 5M, 7.5M, or 10M Platform) at any time.

(e) #5 Grand Masters --Age 80 and over. Six dives.

(1) The contest shall consist of 3 dives from different groups with a total degree of difficulty not to exceed 5.8; followed by 3 dives from different groups without limit of degree of difficulty. At least 3 groups of dives must be represented in the 6-dive list.

(2) Dives can be performed from any elevation (1M or 3M Springboard or 5M, 7.5M, or 10M Platform) at any time.

(f) Divers who qualified to compete in a Grand Masters event may choose to dive either with their natural age bracket or with a younger age bracket. Divers must compete in only one Grand Masters event per meet (it need not be the same one each meet) and shall never dive with those Grand Masters age brackets older than themselves.

132.9 Diving requirements.

(a) Platform Diving Requirements.

Age Number of Dives No. of Voluntary Dives from Different Groups (with limit) No. of Voluntary Dives from Different Groups (without limit)
21-29 6 dives 3 (5.7) 3
30-39 6 dives 3 (5.7) 3
40-49 5 dives 2 (3.8) 3
50-59 5 dives 2 (3.8) 3
60-69 4 dives 2 (3.8) 2
70-79 4 dives 2 (3.8) 2
80-89 3 dives 1 (.19) 2


(b) Springboard Diving Requirements.

Age Number of Voluntary Dives from Different Groups (with limit) Number of Voluntary Dives from Different Groups (without limit)
21-29 5 (9.5) 5
30-39 5 (9.5) 5
40-49 5 (9.5) 4
50-59 4 (7.6) 4
60-69 3 (5.7) 4
70-79 3 (5.7) 3
80-89 3 (5.7) 2
90 & up 1 (1.9) 1

132.11 Order of dives.

Dives may be performed in any order except in the Grand Masters competition, which must follow the stated format. All events involving a list of 5 voluntary dives shall have a maximum total degree of difficulty on these dives of 9.5, and the dives shall be from 5 different groups. The dives constituting the 9.5 voluntary with-limit shall be marked with an asterisk (*) for identification and checking purposes. For all events requiring fewer than 5 voluntary dives, these dives shall be from different groups and shall have a maximum total degree of difficulty of 7.6 where four dives are required, where three dives are required, where two dives are required, and 1.9 where one dive is required.

132.12 Synchronized Diving Requirements.

(a) There shall be three divisions of synchronized diving teams: men's doubles, women's doubles and mixed doubles. Within each division there shall be three age groups: 21, 35, 50+. The age group of a synchronized diving team shall be determined by averaging the ages of the two team members. Divers may compete in more than one division (eg. in men's doubles and mixed doubles), but only on one team within each division.

(b) Dive requirements:

Age Voluntaries Optionals Total
21-34 2 dives 3 dives 5
35-49 2 dives 3 dives 5
50 + 2 dives 2 dives 4

The total degree of difficulty on the voluntary dives with limit shall not exceed 3.8.

(c) Dives may be performed at any level (1-meter, 3-meter, or platforms). The two teammates may perform either the same dive or different dives during their turn, so long as both team members dive simultaneously. Only one degree of difficulty shall be listed on the sheet for each paired-dive to be performed by the team. When different dives are performed by the teammates, their D.D. shall be averaged (and rounded up 0.5 of a point when necessary). No paired-dive combination shall be repeated by a team during the contest.

(d) Judges shall consider the synchronization of the team first, then the execution of the dives, when scoring a synchronized diving event.

(e) Competitors in synchronized diving events shall receive awards distinctive from the Masters National Invitational Medal.

132.13 [Removed]

[Removed Oct. 3, 1998, effective Jan. 1, 1999]

132.14 All-American Awards.

A Masters Diver winning National Invitational Championships in two regular individual events, including Grand Masters, in one calendar year is designated as an All-American. In those years in which a FINA World Masters Aquatics Championship and/or a World Masters Games event is held, any U.S. Masters Diver winning one or more events shall be eligible to use those events towards his or her All-American qualification.

[Amended Sept. 13, 2003, effective Jan. 1, 2004]

132.15 Medical Examination.

Each competitor is strongly encouraged to have a complete medical evaluation before beginning Masters training. In addition, it is also recommended that each competitor have a physical check-up immediately prior to Masters competition in order to ensure the diver's physical readiness for participation. Medical evaluation forms are available upon request by writing to the National office.

____________

* Special synchronized diving sheets, with room for description of both teammates' dives and their average D.D., should be used when possible. These can be obtained from the Masters Chair.