1. How do I register for an AAU Athlete Membership?

Your child must be registered with AAU Diving for participation in any level of YCF Diving. This membership provides insurance protection. To register with AAU click here.  Be sure to select AAU and not YMCA as your association, and select YCF Diving as your club team along with your current coach.

2. How do I register with USA Diving?

Your child must be registered with USA Diving for participation in any level of YCF Diving. You may be asked to register with USA Diving for certain meets as a JO1, but membership is required for JO2.

To register with USA Diving go to www.usadiving.org. Depending on the diver’s level, register for either the Athlete (Lessons, Pre-team, JO1)  or Competition (JO2-JO5 divers) membership. You will receive a USA Diving ID number that you will need to register for USA Diving meets.

3. How do I register for a meet?

To register for a dive meet go to www.divemeets.com. When you register you will receive a Dive Meets ID and a password. Find your meet in “Upcoming and Current Meets”. Login and register for your events. You must have your dive list handy and know what age group your diver will be diving in. Please note that times will change as more divers register, so check with Dive Meets once registration is closed to know what the final warm-up time and event times will be.

4. How do I know what age group my diver is in?

Competition levels are divided into various age groups depending on the individual meets sanctioning body:

AAU or USA Diving

A diver’s age is designated by the actual age of the diver on or before December 31st of the current year (FINA rules).

For Example: If a diver is 11, but will turn 12 by December 31st, that diver will be in 12 age group.  Most times age groups are combined at meets (e.g.  9 and under, 10-11, 12-13, 14-15, and 16-18).

5. How are the dives numbered?

There are 6 different groups in diving:

100 Front
200 Back
300 Reverse
400 Inward
500 Twisting
600 Arm stand

Each ½ rotations or twist is given a 1:

  • 100 Front: Front dive is 101, Front somersault is 102, Front 1½ is 103, Front double is 104
  • 200 Back: Same pattern as Front group, but with 2 as the first number
  • 300 Reverse: Same pattern as Front group, but with 3 as the first number
  • 400 Inward: Same pattern as Front group, but with 4 as the first number
  • 500 Twisting: Always starts with a 5, then direction of 1, 2, 3, or 4
    • Then number of somersaults, followed by the number of twists.
    • Examples:

Front somersault ½ twists is 5121D
Front 1 twist is 5122D
Front 1 ½ somersault 1 twist is 5132D
Back Somersault ½ twist is 5221D
Back Somersault 1 ½ twist is 5223D

Each position has a letter:

A - Straight or Layout
B - Pike
C - Tuck
D - Free position for twisting group only

6. What do the degrees of difficulty mean?

Each dive carries its own degree of difficulty, or weighting. This weighting is multiplied by the judge’s scores to calculate the total points received for a dive.
You can find the FINA Table of Degrees of Difficulty on the USA Diving website here.

7. How are the dives judged?

8. What should I bring to a meet?

  • Team outfit: YCF Diving team ware - shirts, swimsuits, track suits
  • Shammy - so that the diver can dry off in between dives
  • 2 Towels - your diver will be there for awhile, so pack at least two
  • Activities/games - for filling idle time during events (coloring, cards, movies, etc.)
  • Food/snacks - don’t count on a concession stand at every meet
  • Folding chairs, umbrella, overhead canopy - don’t count on these accommodations to be available at every meet