Events in Sport
- 1920-08-25 Swedish divers sweep the medals in the men's plain high diving event at the Antwerp Olympics; Arvid Wallman wins gold ahead of teammates Nils Skoglund & John Jansson
- 1920-08-27 American diver Louis Kuehn leads a US medal sweep in the men's 3m springboard event at the Antwerp Olympics; teammates Clarence Pinkston & Louis Balbach take the minor medals
- 1920-08-29 An American sweep of the medals in the women's 3m springboard diving event at the Antwerp Olympics; Aileen Riggin wins gold ahead of teammates Helen Wainwright & Thelma Payne
- 1936-08-12 American diver Marjorie Gestring wins 3m springboard gold at the Berlin Olympics, youngest Olympic gold medalist (13 years 268 days)
- 1936-08-13 Americans Dorothy Poynton-Hil and Velma Dunn take the gold and silver medals in the 10m platform diving at the Berlin Olympics
- 1936-08-15 Americans make a clean sweep of the 3m diving medals via Marjorie Gestring, Katherine Rawls and Dorothy Poynton-Hill at the Berlin Olympics
- 1936-08-15 Marshall Wayne and Elbert Root make it an American 1-2 in the 10m platform diving at the Berlin Olympics
- 1948-08-03 American divers Vicki Draves, Zoe Ann Olsen and Patsy Elsener go 1-2-3 in a US clean sweep of the medals in the women's 3m springboard at the London Olympics
- 1948-08-03 An American clean sweep of the medals in the men's 3m springboard diving at the London Olympics with Bruce Harlan winning gold, Miller Anderson silver and Sammy Lee bronze
- 1948-08-05 Americans Sammy Lee and Bruce Harlan go 1-2 in the 10m platform diving at the London Olympics
- 1948-08-06 Vicki Draves wins her second diving gold medal at the London Olympics beating American teammate Patsy Elsener in the 10m platform
- 1956-12-04 American diver Pat McCormick wins the 3m springboard gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics with 142.46 points; later wraps up the women's double when she takes the 10m platform gold
- 1956-12-07 American diver Pat McCormick wraps up the women's double when she wins the 10m platform gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics with 84.85 points; also won the 3m springboard gold
- 1968-10-26 Italian diver Klaus Dibiasi wins first of 3 consecutive men's 10m platform gold medals when he comfortably beats Álvaro Gaxiola of Mexico at the Mexico City Olympics
- 1972-09-04 Italian diver Klaus Dibiasi wins his 2nd of 3 consecutive 10m platform gold medals the Munich Olympics
- 1974-09-21 Enzo Maiorca sets the world record for free diving of 90 metres
Sports History
1982-08-01 American Greg Louganis becomes 1st diver to score 700 (752.67) in 11 dives in winning 3m springboard gold, World Championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador
- 1988-06-16 In Santa Barbara, CA, a team of 32 divers begin cycling underwater on a standard tricycle, to complete 116.66 mi in 75 hrs 20 mins
- 1988-06-19 32 divers finish cycling underwater on a standard tricycle, to complete 116.66 mi in 75 hrs 20 mins
- 1988-09-19 American diver Greg Louganis smashes his head on diving board during the 3m springboard preliminaries at the Seoul Olympics; recovers to qualify for the final which he wins the following day
- 1988-09-20 American diver Greg Louganis wins the 3m springboard gold medal at the Seoul Olympics after famously hitting his head on the board the previous day
- 1988-09-27 American diver Greg Louganis wins the 10m platform gold medal at the Seoul Olympics; wraps up diving double after also taking out the 3m springboard gold
- 1989-01-30 American Olympic diving silver medallist Bruce Kimball, is sentenced to 17 years in prison for killing 2 teenagers in a drunk driving accident; serves 4 years
- 1991-01-04 12-year-old Chinese diver Fu Mingxia wins 10m platform gold medal at World Swimming Championships in Perth, Australia; youngest world champion in the history of any aquatic event
- 1991-04-20 Mark Lenzi is 1st diver to score 100 pts on a dive (101.85)
- 1992-08-04 The diving competition at the Barcelona Olympics concludes with Chinese athletes dominant, winning 3 of 4 gold medals contested - American Mark Lenzi wins 3m springbaord
- 1994-09-04 Chinese diver Fu Mingxia wins 10m platform gold medal at World Swimming Championships in Rome, Italy; becomes first female to win back-to-back world titles in the event
- 2004-08-28 The diving competition at the Athens Olympics concludes with the Chinese contingent dominant, winning 6 of the 8 gold medals
- 2008-08-23 Australian diver Matthew Mitcham wins the men's 10m platform gold medal with final dive at the Beijing Olympics; prevents Chinese from winning every diving event; achieves highest score for an individual dive in Olympic history (112.10)
- 2016-08-20 Chinese diver Chen Aisen does the Olympic 10m platform double in Rio de Janeiro; having already won the synchronised event, he wins the individual gold by a comfortable margin
- 2019-04-28 American diver Victor Vescovo makes the deepest dive ever to the bottom of the Mariana trench at 10,927m (35,849ft), and finds a plastic bag
- 2021-08-01 Chinese diver Shi Tingmao completes women's 3m springboard/synchronized 3m springboard double at the Tokyo Olympics for second consecutive Games
- 2023-03-14 Czech free diver David Vencl completes record dive beneath ice to 52.1 meters, without a wetsuit, in Switzerland’s Lake Sils in temperatures between 1C and 4C (34F to 39F) [1]
Birthdays in Sport
- 1881-11-16 Joel H. Hildebrand, American chemist and educator (research led to new treatments for divers with the 'bends' through the use of helium and oxygen breathing mixtures), born in Camden, New Jersey (d. 1983)
- 1900-02-01 Clarence "Bud" Pinkston, American diver (Olympic gold 10m platform, silver 3m springboard 1920), born in Wichita, Kansas (d. 1961)
- 1900-04-01 Stefanie Clausen, Danish diver (Olympic gold 10m platform 1920), born in Vesterbro, Denmark (d. 1981)
- 1903-03-06 Elizabeth Becker-Pinkston, American platform diver (Olympic gold 1924 and 1928), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1989)
- 1906-05-02 Aileen Riggin, American diver (Olympic gold 3m springboard 1920, 24), born in Newport, Rhode Island (d. 2002)
- 1907-04-10 Pete Desjardins, American diver (Olympic gold 10m platform, 3m springboard 1928), born in St-Pierre-Jolys, Manitoba (d. 1985)
- 1909-01-28 Lionel Crabb "Buster", British Royal Navy diver (WW II-George Medal), born in London, England (d. 1956)
- 1915-07-17 Dorothy Poynton-Hill, American diver (Olympic gold 10m platform 1932, 36; silver springboard 1928, bronze 1936), born in Salt Lake City, Utah (d. 1995)
- 1917-06-14 Katherine Rawls, American diver (Olympic silver 3m springboard 1932, 36) and swimmer (Olympic bronze 4×100m freestyle 1936), born in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 1982)
- 1920-08-01 Sammy Lee, American diver (Olympic Gold 10m platform 1948, 52), born in Fresno, California (d. 2016)
- 1922-11-18 Marjorie Gestring, American springboard diver (Olympic gold 1936) (d. 1992)
- 1924-06-09 Peter Heatly, Scottish diver and Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation, born in Leith, Scotland (d. 2015)
- 1924-12-31 Vicki Draves, American diver (Olympic gold platform & springboard 1948), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2010)
- 1926-12-02 Hobie Billingsley, American ISHOF diving coach (Indiana University 1959-89; 6 x NCAA team championships; US Olympic team 1968, 72, 76), born in Erie, Pennsylvania (d. 2022) [1]
- 1928-11-22 Juno Stover-Irwin, American diver (Olympic silver women's platform 1956, bronze 1952), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2011)
- 1930-05-12 Pat McCormick, American diver (4 x Olympic gold women's springboard & platform 1952, 56), born in Seal Beach, California (d. 2023)
- 1931-06-21 Enzo Maiorca, Italian free diver who set 17 world records, born in Syracuse, Sicily (d. 2016)
- 1934-11-11 Paula Myers-Pope, American platform diver, 2 silver, 1 bronze (Olympics 1952-60), born in Lackawanna, New York (d. 1995)
- 1938-10-25 Robert Webster, American diver (Olympic gold 1960, 64), born in Berkeley, California
- 1940-12-27 Jerry Lambert, jockey (rode Native Diver)
- 1943-07-29 Ingrid Krämer, German diver (Olympic gold medalist), born in Dresden Germany
- 1944-07-26 Micki King, American diver (Olympic gold springboard 1972), born in Pontiac, Michigan
- 1945-02-13 Ken Sitzberger, American diver and broadcaster (Olympic gold 3m springboard 1964), born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (d. 1984)
- 1947-10-06 Klaus Dibiasi, Italian diver (Olympic gold 10m platform 1968, 72, 76), born in Hall in Tirol, Austria
- 1948-09-21 Michael Finneran, American diver (1st perfect 10 on 10m platform), born in Rockville, Center, New York
- 1950-08-27 Cynthia Potter, American diver (Olympic bronze 3m springboard 1976) and broadcaster (NBC Sports), born in Houston, Texas
- 1950-10-06 David Brin, American sci-fi author (Hugo, Nebula, Sundiver, Postman)
- 1957-01-13 Christina Seufert, Sacraento California, diver (Olympic bronze 1984)
- 1959-02-08 Irina Kalinina, Soviet, springboard diver (Olympic gold 1980)
Greg Louganis (64 years old)
1960-01-29 American diver (4 x Olympic gold 10m platform & 3m springboard 1984, 88), born in San Diego, California
- 1960-02-13 Kelly McCormick, US diver (Olympic silver 1984), born in Anaheim, California
- 1963-03-09 Kent Ferguson, American diver (Olympics 1992, 96), born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- 1963-10-23 David Bedard, Canadian springboard diver (Olympics 1984, 88, 92, 96), born in Montreal, Quebec
- 1964-11-25 Wendy Wyland, American platform diver (Olympic bronze, 1984), born in Jackson, Michigan
- 1965-06-24 Patrick Jeffrey, American diver (Olympic 5th 1996), born in Morristown, New Jersey
- 1967-06-14 Wendy Lian Williams, American diver (Olympic bronze 1988, 92), born in St Louis, Missouri
- 1968-07-04 Mark Lenzi, American 3m spring diver (Olympic gold 1992), born in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (d. 2012)
- 1972-02-28 Melisa Moses, diver (Olympic 4th 1996), born in Jacksonville, Florida
- 1973-04-25 Paige Gordon, Canadian diver (Olympics-16-92, 96), born in Vancouver, British Columbia
- 1973-12-22 Annie Pelletier, Canadian diver (Olympic bronze 1996), born in Montreal, Quebec
- 1974-08-11 Audrey Mestre, French diver
- 1975-06-11 Thomas Bimis, Greek diver (Olympic gold 3m springboard synchronized 2004), born in Athens, Greece
- 1976-02-26 Nikolaos Siranidis, Greek diver, born in Athens, Greece
- 1977-11-02 Leon Taylor, English diver (Olympic silver 10m synchro 2004; World C'ship bronze 2005) and broadcaster (BBC), born in Cheltenham, England
- 1977-11-23 Myriam Boileau, Canadian diver, born in Montreal, Quebec
- 1977-12-23 Becky Ruehl, American diver (Olympic 4th 1996), born in Lakeside Park, Kentucky
- 1978-08-16 Fu Mingxia, Chinese diver (Olympic gold women's 10m platform 1992, 96; 3m springboard 1996, 2000), born in Wuhan, China
- 1979-08-27 Tian Liang, Chinese diver
- 1981-10-15 Guo Jingjing, Chinese diver (3 Olympic Gold medals), born in Baoding, China
- 1981-12-14 Emilie Heymans, Canadian diver, born in Brussels, Belgium
- 1982-05-06 David Vencl, Czech free-diver (record ice dive without a wetsuit), born in Vrchlabí, Czechoslovakia
- 1985-06-08 Alexandre Despatie, Canadian diver (World C'ship gold 10m platform 2003, 1m, 3m springboard 2005; Olympic silver 3m springboard 2004. 08), born in Montreal, Quebec
- 1987-04-01 Li Ting, Chinese diver (Olympic gold platform synchro 2004; World C'ships gold 2003, 05), born in Lingui, Guilin, Guangxi, China
- 1988-03-02 Matthew Mitcham, Australian diver (Olympic gold 10m platform 2008), born in Brisbane, Australia
- 1991-08-31 Shi Tingmao, Chinese diver (4 x Olympic gold 3m springboard, 3m synchro 2016, 2020; 8 x World C'ship gold), born in Chongqing, China
- 1994-05-21 Tom Daley, English diver (2021 Olympic Gold), born in Plymouth, England
Weddings in Sport
Jacques Cousteau
1937-07-12 Explorer Jacques Cousteau (27) weds scuba diver Simone Melchior (18) at Saint-Louis-des-Invalides in Paris
Greg Louganis
2013-10-12 Olympic diving champion Greg Louganis (53) weds paralegal Johnny Chaillot in Malibu, California
- 2017-05-06 Olympic diver Tom Daley (23) weds Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black at Bovey Castle in Devon, England
Deaths in Sport
- 1956-04-19 Lionel Crabb "Buster", British Royal Navy diver (WWII), disappears presumed dead on a job for M16 at 47
- 1961-11-18 Clarence "Bud" Pinkston, American diver (Olympic gold 10m platform, silver 3m springboard 1920), dies at 61
- 1981-08-02 Stefanie Clausen, Danish diver (Olympic gold 10m platform 1920), dies at 81
- 1982-04-08 Katherine Rawls, American diver (Olympic silver 3m springboard 1932, 36) and swimmer (Olympic bronze 4×100m freestyle 1936), dies from cancer at 64
- 1983-04-30 Joel H. Hildebrand, American chemist and educator (research led to new treatments for divers with the 'bends' through the use of helium and oxygen breathing mixtures), dies at 101
- 1984-01-01 Ken Sitzberger, American diver & broadcaster (Olympic gold 3m springboard 1964), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 38
- 1985-05-06 Pete Desjardins, American diver (Olympic gold 10m platform, 3m springboard 1928), dies at 78
- 1989-04-06 Elizabeth Becker-Pinkston, American platform diver (Olympic gold 1924 and 1928), dies at 86
- 1992-04-20 Marjorie Gestring, American springboard diver (Olympic gold 1936), dies at 69
- 1992-08-01 Stanley Dudek, US platform diver (watershows), dies
- 1995-05-18 Dorothy Poynton-Hill, American diver (Olympic gold 10m platform 1932, 36; silver springboard 1928, bronze 1936), dies at 79
- 1995-07-15 Paula Myers-Pope, American platform diver, (2 silver, 1 bronze Olympics 1952-60), dies at 60
- 2002-10-12 Audrey Mestre, French diver (b. 1974)
- 2002-10-17 Aileen Riggin, American diver (Olympic gold 3m springboard 1920, 24), dies at 96
- 2010-04-11 Vicki Draves, American diver (Olympic gold platform & springboard 1948), dies from pancreatic cancer at 85
- 2011-07-02 Juno Stover-Irwin, American diver (Olympic silver women's platform 1956, bronze 1952), dies at 82
- 2012-04-09 Mark Lenzi, American springboard diver (Olympic gold 1992), dies at 43
- 2013-06-16 Hans Hass, Austrian diving pioneer, dies at 94
- 2015-09-17 Peter Heatly, Scottish diver and Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Federation, dies at 91
- 2016-11-13 Enzo Maiorca, Italian free diver who set 17 world records, dies at 85
- 2016-12-02 Sammy Lee, American diver (Olympic Gold 10m platform 1948, 52), dies from pneumonia at 96
- 2022-07-16 Hobie Billingsley, American ISHOF diving coach (Indiana University 1959-89; 6 x NCAA team championships; US Olympic team 1968, 72, 76), dies from myasthenia gravis at 95 [1]
- 2023-03-07 Pat McCormick, American diver (4 x Olympic gold women's springboard & platform 1952, 56), dies at 92