An acrobat flips and twists with the flexibility of a rubber band. In the routine of twirls, the athlete spots a landmark in the building and knows the landing zone beneath is approaching soon.
Cheers from spectators signify the performance’s end, but a small splash of water is the only indication that the fans applaud a diver rather than a gymnast.
The sports of diving and gymnastics differ, but at the core of each, the same skill sets and actions are often required. Balance, body awareness and flexibility while falling through the air are all critical abilities that both divers and gymnasts must own.
“A lot of the same skills, training, training discipline and kinesthetic awareness are all readily applicable to the sports,” said LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer.
From Shaffer’s experience, nearly half of the divers he’s coached have had some type of gymnastics experience or background before moving to the pool, he said. Some divers will start off in gymnastics when they are young but move to the pool later in their careers.
LSU sophomore diver Allie Alter reached level eight status in gymnastics before making her transition to diving. Shaffer said. Level eight has skill restrictions, while many college gymnasts are former level nine and ten competitors. For a time, Alter juggled both diving and gymnastics until finally channeling her focus on just the natatorium, according to Shaffer.
While gymnastics practices many of the same methods as diving, Shaffer said collegiate athletes who have centered their attention solely on diving their entire careers have an advantage over those who have spent some of their time on the mats and balance beams.
The contrasts between the sports include more than the landing surfaces. In addition, the twists and somersaults differ in each.
“A diving board compared to a gymnastics spring board or a gymnastics floor is very slow,” Shaffer said. “In gymnastics, you punch your spring board or you punch the floor. It’s fast. In diving, we press and ride.”
Entering the water head-first is a smooth, artistic movement unique to the sport of diving. But outside of the pool, diving and gymnastics are much the same.
LSU uses dry-land diving boards, trampolines and mats to polish its technique. Along with stretching and conditioning, the Tigers devote at least an hour of practice each day to flip and twist on mats and trampolines.
Before fans marvel at a diver’s whirlwind of tumbling, divers rehearse drills and exercises away from the platform that are similar to those of gymnasts.
But whether acclamations are being echoed among the rafters of a natatorium or a gymnasium, Shaffer said onlookers will witness special athletes in both sports.
“Different sports appeal to different people,” Shaffer said. “You can call diving, to an extent, aquatic gymnastics.”

Gallery • 2 Photos

Lauren Duhon

Freshman diver Zakary Rowton practices a dive Monday, November 18, 2013 at the LSU Natatorium.