Judging Diving

The third weekend in March the FINA diving world series came to Doha. Neither Darren nor I had ever seen a diving competition so we decided to check it out. Of course it didn't hurt that admission was free!

I was extremely impressed with the athletes’ skill, determination, concentration, muscle structure…they’re amazing people! And just like when the WTA tour came to Doha, it was exciting to witness the competition. But the experience left a slight twinge of uneasiness within me.

Some sports are very objective: the first person to cross the finish line is the winner. But with judged sports, one can never be 100% sure that the winner is deserving of the honour.

Throughout the competition, Darren was trying to get some cool shots of the divers in mid air. After each dive was complete, as we awaited the scores to be announced, we would look at the pictures he had snapped. On a number of occasions we observed problems with synchronization or position that seemed to escape the notice of the multiple judges. Likewise, there were excellent dives, according to Darren’s camera, which were scored poorly.

I do not claim to be an expert in this area, and I’m not saying there definitely was unfair judging going on. But it does makes me wonder once again about the validity of judged sporting competitions, as well as the power of suggestion. Are judges truly blinded to errors when the competitor is the Olympic gold medalist? Or are they unable to see a perfect dive if the diver is only the 10th best in the world?

But all in all it was a great evening. And Darren did end up with some pretty neat shots:

I think it's cool how they're just suspended there in the air

Cubans perfectly in synch

Preparing for an armstand dive - amazing!

Just relaxin'! :)