Diving is not considered to be a separate sport by its organising body, the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA). FINA governs four forms, or disciplines, of aquatic competition - swimming, diving, synchronised swimming, and water polo. Usually the diving results are listed with those from the swimming events.

Diving was popularised by the Swedes and the Germans in the 18th and 19th centuries. It grew up out of the gymnastics principles developed in those nations. The first known book on diving was published in Germany in 1843. Competitive diving began in Britain in the 1880s. In the late 19th century a group of Swedish divers visited Great Britain and gave numerous exhibitions, which stimulated the formation of the first diving organisation, the Amateur Diving Association, in 1901.

(BOCOG)