USA DIVING
USA Diving is the governing body for competitive springboard and platform diving in the United States. Diving in the United States was originally organized under the AAU, and later broke off to become a separate entity known as USA Diving. USA Diving has the highest level of Junior, Senior and Masters diving in the USA.
USA Diving has a competitive system that runs in the spring and summer and allows advanced level divers to compete in regional, zone and national competition. Divers must have the necessary dives to be able to compete in these meets.
AAU DIVING
In 2004 the AAU again began to sponsor diving. Its ability to simply and affordably register divers made it grow larger than USA Diving in just one year. Now AAU Diving has 5 times as many divers than USA Diving and has many other benefits. AAU Diving offers better insurance, and the management of the national office is much more responsive to local clubs. Most importantly, the objectives of AAU Diving reflect the goals and objectives of Upstate New York Diving. Upstate New York
Niagara District Diving
Upstate Diving is located in the Niagara District of the AAU. www.niagaradiving.org. The District Championships are held locally each year in western NY each May and the National Championships are held in different locations around the country each year in late July. To attend the National Championships you must qualify in one of two ways: Achieve a National score in a FINA (See below) competition or finish in the top 3 at the Niagara District championships. The dive requirements for these meets are listed below.
Advanced (Blaze and Elite) divers who are chosen to compete in these competitions need purchase a USA Diving Membership in addition to the AAU Membership. This allows them to be able to compete in the Regional, Zone and National meets sanctioned by USA Diving. Typically these meets require substantial travel, and a large time commitment. The rewards for attending are equally substantial. These meets are attended by college coaches who have scholarship money available and recruit divers from this level. These competitions also provide the rigorous competition experience that gives Upstate Divers an edge when competing in other areas of their lives.