Disappearing Diving Boards
By Ashley Perryman

Orange cones warn swimmers at the Chapel Hill YMCA pool that the diving blocks are off limits. Diving boards are vanishing from swimming pools across the country.

Most new pools are constructed without diving boards and the few that are around are built low off the water. The presence of lifeguards and cautionary signs hasn't been enough to stem the risk of accidents and the lawsuits that follow. Executive director of the Chapel Hill YMCA Jerry Whortan said diving boards are dangerous and a bother.

"We don't have a diving board because diving boards are places where accidents potentially can happen and a diving board can take up a lot of water space that's exclusively for the diver that other recreational or lap swimmers can't use," said Whortan.

Forbes Magazine says diving board sales have been falling ever since a Washington teenager was paralyzed attempting a dive. He won a $6.6 million lawsuit against a trade association.