Published: 5th February 2026
Interpreting safe diving guidelines to school carnivals
Why school swimming carnivals matter
School swimming carnivals remain a very important opportunity for children and young people to participate in swimming and water safety activities. For many students, a school carnival may be their only chance each year to enter the water in a structured, supervised environment, build confidence, and experience swimming as a positive and inclusive activity.
At a time when Royal Life Saving Australia’s research shows that around one in two Australian children are no longer able to meet minimum swimming and water safety competency benchmarks, school-based aquatic events are more important than ever. They are not just sporting competitions; they are powerful education and participation opportunities that help normalise swimming, reinforce water safety messages, and encourage lifelong engagement with aquatic activity.
For this reason, the objective should not be to narrow participation or exclude children, but to adjust events so that all children can safely get wet and take part, while ensuring swimmer safety remains the paramount consideration.
Recent updated guidance on dive starts
Diving is an important skill in swimming and lifesaving. However, it also carries risk if undertaken in inappropriate water depths, without sufficient skill, or without proper supervision. Diving injuries, while uncommon, can be severe and life-changing.
Royal Life Saving Australia provides nationally recognised safety guidance on safe diving practices as part of theGuidelines for Safe Pool Operations (GSPO), authorised by the National Aquatic Industry Committee. These guidelines cover safe management of recreational diving, teaching diving, and competitive dive starts, and are used by aquatic facilities across Australia as an industry benchmark.
With school swimming carnivals occurring across the country, it is timely to clarify what this guidance means in practice for schools, teachers and pool operators—particularly given the wide variation in students’ swimming experience and competence.
A key reality: we cannot assume children’s swimming (and diving) competence
A critical consideration for schools is that many students participating in carnivals are entry-level swimmers or inexperienced competitors. Some may never have performed a dive start. Others may not have been taught how to enter the water safely from the pool edge or blocks.
Updated guidance explicitly recognises this reality. It distinguishes between trained competitors and entry-level competitors, noting that entry-level participants have been injured during diving activities in water that was technically compliant under older assumptions.
Trained competitors
Trained competitors are people who have had extensive training and practice at performing competitive dive starts. The risk of injury in a pool with sufficient forward clearance at the appropriate depth is low, however there are heightened risks where pools have submersible booms or where competitors are inexperienced or poorly trained.
Entry-level competitors
Entry-level competitors are competitors who may be participating in a competitive dive start and who may lack formal training and a progressive approach to safe diving technique. Any competitor who is not known to be competent at competitive diving in depths under 1.5m should be treated as an entry-level competitor for the purposes of dive starts, with competitor safety the paramount consideration.
First-time divers
Any first-time diver should not attempt a dive start. First-timer divers should first learn the skill of diving in a swimming and water safety class before attempting to incorporate diving into the start of a competitive event or training session.
Dealing with uncertainty
If students have not been taught and assessed as competent in dive starts, they should start races in the water or use an alternative entry, rather than diving.
This approach prioritises safety while still allowing full participation.
It starts with risk assessment
Competition organisers (including carnivals) and/or coaches and instructors supervising training for competition or providing competitive training programs should complete a Competitive Dive Starts Risk Assessment (or incorporate into a broader event, program or aquatic risk assessment).
The risk assessment should consider:
- Whether the facility has the appropriate water depths for the competitive dive starts
- What qualifications, training, professional licensing and experience the coaches, officials and instructors needs to conduct/supervise competitive dive starts safely
- Whether coaches, officials and instructors are medically fit and healthy to supervise and/or instruct competitive dive starts
- The availability of backup supervision and trained personnel in aquatic spinal injury management
- The availability of suitable aquatic spinal injury management rescue equipment
- The availability of appropriate signage during the competition to indicate that ‘competitive dive starts is in progress’
- Whether the facility has particular features such as swim walls or submersible booms that make diving more risky
- The experience and training of competitors, with less experienced and/or trained competitors requiring extra care.
Minimum water depth requirements and what has changed
The updated guidance provides clear minimum and optimal water depths for different types of diving activity, and importantly distinguishes between trained and entry-level competitors.
Water Depths for Competitive Swimming and Training
Competitive dive starts activities should be prohibited if the required water depth or forward clearance is not available.
- Minimum Water Depth for Dive Starts (Trained Competitors):
- From concourse level: 1.2m. Competitive dive starts may be permitted from concourse level to a maximum height above water of 0.2m (measured from the water line to the plummet).
- From 0.2-0.75m: 1.35m (measured from the water line to the plummet).Competitive dive starts may be permitted from concourse level to a maximum height above water of 0.75m. If the start is greater than 0.75m above the water, the start should be commenced in the water.
- Minimum Water Depth for Dive Starts (Entry-Level Competitors):
- From concourse level: 1.2m. Competitive dive starts may be permitted from concourse level to a maximum height above water of 0.2m (measured from the water line to the plummet).
- 0.2-0.4m above the water: 1.35m (measured from the water line to the plummet).Competitive dive starts may be permitted from concourse level to a maximum height above water of 0.4m. If the start is greater than 0.4m above the water, the start should be commenced in the water.
- From 0.4m-0.75m: 1.5m or greater. Competitive dive starts may be permitted from a maximum height of 0.75m.
- Optimal Water Depth for Dive Starts: 2m.
- Forward Clearance:
- Standard: 7.0m from the edge of the pool, the first 5m of which should be at least the recommended water depth.
Additional safety considerations:
Advanced Warning
Prior to participating in swimming events swimmers should be advised and warned of the water depth into which they may be required to dive start into during the course of any competition. Competition entry forms and promotional material should clearly advise competitors of the water depth in which competition(s) will be held and the height above water from which dive starts will occur.
Starting Blocks
Starting blocks should be inspected prior to each use to ensure they are correctly fitted, sturdy and free of any potential hazards, and should only be available for use by those persons deemed as competent at executing a safe forward dive entry. In pools where non-complementary activities are being conducted, starting blocks should be isolated from use when not used for competition or instruction. In most circumstances, starting blocks should not be available to the recreational user.
Conclusion
School swimming carnivals play an important role in supporting children’s participation in swimming and water safety at a time when many are not meeting minimum competency benchmarks. These events should remain inclusive and accessible, while ensuring swimmer safety remains the paramount consideration.
The updated guidance on competitive dive starts reflects the reality that schools and aquatic facilities cannot assume students know how to dive safely. By distinguishing between trained and entry-level competitors, requiring first-time divers to use in-water starts, verifying water depths and undertaking appropriate risk assessments, diving risks can be managed without excluding children from participation.
With clear planning, communication and adherence to recognised industry guidance, school swimming carnivals can continue to provide safe and meaningful aquatic experiences for all students.
