Swimming pool diving boards are fixed with a hinge at one end, and the other end hangs over a swimming pool. Halfway between the hinge and the end is an adjustable fulcrum that causes the board itself to act as a spring. Typical modern diving boards are made out of aircraft-grade aluminum in one single piece. The board that is used in competitive diving is made of this aluminum that is heat-treated. The surface of the board is made slip-resistant by the application of an epoxy resin. It is topped with a laminate of alumina and flint silica and then top coats of resin.
The springiness of the diving board can be adjusted by moving the fulcrum. The fulcrum can be adjusted by turning a large wheel. When there is a diver on the end of the board, the combination of the diver’s mass and the stiffness of the board create a resonance frequency that can be adjusted by setting the position of the fulcrum. While the fulcrum can theoretically be adjusted by the diver’s foot while he or she is standing on the board, this isn’t easy. The soft rubber gear-like mechanism of the fulcrum is located on the board itself and not on the wheel.
At public pools, diving boards are usually located one or three meters above the water. Only the three meter springboard is used in diving competitions. Back when diving boards were made of wood, they were usually located at either 10 or 20 feet (three or six meters) above the water.
Diving boards are not always installed in residential pools today due to insurance and litigation concerns. A diving accident in 1993 in which a 14-year-old boy dove into a pool that was not made to the standards of the National Spa and Pool Institute (NSPI) resulted in the boy becoming a tetraplegic, and after that diving boards on residential and many hotel and apartment pools became less common.
