Should the creators of ABC's reality show have named it Splat instead?
Maybe... given that out of the 10 original contestants, six have had injuries.
Here's the premise: 10 celebrities will train and compete in regulation platform and springboard diving. Coached by Olympic champion Greg Louganis, the celebrity divers are critiqued by the judges, London Olympic U.S. Gold medalist David Boudia and Australian Olympic athlete and USA Dive Team director Steve Foley.
The diving celebrities include: Basketball legend, 7-foot-2-inch Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, comedian Louie Anderson (far right in photo -- he weighed in at over 400 lbs.), Chelsea Handler's sidekick Chuy Bravo, Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh star Drake Bell, extreme skier Rory Bushfield, former Baywatch star Nicole Eggert, former Cosby kid "Rudy"- Keshia Knight Pulliam, defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions Ndamukong Suh, Miss Alabama and Sports Illustrated model Katherine Webb (in middle in photo, with Joey Lawrence on her left), and former playboy model and reality show star Kendra Wilkinson.
Challenges have included doing back flips, synchronized dives and diving off the 10-meter (32.8 feet) high diving platform.
Chuy Bravo, who entered the competition not even knowing how to swim, was eliminated just before Week 2, after suffering from a broken heel. He was replaced by soccer player Brandi Chastain.
Louie Anderson sustained bruised ribs during practice when attempting a back flip:
Although he continued on the show, he withdrew on Week 4 saying:
I know I have very little chance of winning this competition and I am going home, and I am going to defer to Brandi because she has a chance to win this competition.During Week 3 extreme skier Rory Bushfield ruptured his eardrum during a practice dive. Video shows him screaming in pain as he gets out the water. Despite being told not to dive anymore by doctors, Bushfield comments:
Doctors say don't dive, I say, "I'm going to dive," It's as easy as that.Fortunately for Rory, he didn't have to -- his partner for the synchronized dive, Kendra Wilkinson, withdrew from the competition. She was unable to get past the severe of heights (acrophobia) she'd been struggling with throughout the competition. Tearfully, Kendra told the crowd:
"I'm so sorry, everybody. This is the first time in my life I've quit something. This will haunt me for the rest of my life."Next injured was Katherine Webb. In a video, she is seen struggling through her dives in practice. She later told viewers that doctors told her she would have to withdraw from the show due to a back injury:
"I've had the worst time training this week because even the most simplest dives shot pain all the way from the middle of my back down my leg. I went to the doctor and unfortunately he told me I'm out for the competition."Sounds like Katherine has -- the specific cause of which was not disclosed.
Former Baywatch star Nicole Eggert has also had a rough time. During Week 2 she scared viewers when her arms gave out while doing a handstand off the 5-meter platform. As she told magazine:
"I teetered on the top of it and then fell, scraped my legs and bounced off. It looks more dramatic than I can say in words. You have to see it – it scared the crap out of me. It really threw me for a loop. I was just a nervous wreck. But I did recover. I had to."During Wednesday's taping of the show, Nicole attempted a dive with multiple backflips but crashed into the water, back first.
According to , the 'impact looked so painful, on-site EMTs rushed in to pull the 41-year-old out of the pool ." She was taken to a local hospital for evaluation. She was released several hours later and tweeted: "Just have swelling and bruising on my back and kidney's [sic]."
Eggert did go on to dive on Week 6, and did OK, however it was castmate Drake Bell's turn to be injured. At rehearsal, Drake crashed face-first into the pool, getting a black eye in the process.
Platform Diving From a Medical Perspective:
The origins of acrobatic diving go back to the 17th century, in connection with the a growing gymnastic movement in Germany and Sweden. Platform diving (10-meter) gained international notice when it was first included in the 1904 Olympic Games in St. Louis. Springboard diving was added 4 years later, and women's diving was included in the 1920's.
I won't go into the physics of springboard or platform diving here, but suffice it to say that the height from which you jump affects the speed with which you hit the water. At three meters (10 ft.) you are traveling at 17 mph. At 10 meters, you can be going close to 35 mph. If if you add some horizontal velocity -- by running, jumping or squatting and leaping -- your impact speed increases. When you hit the water, your velocity drops almost instantaneously from the maximum speed to zero.
Divers can be subject to a broad spectrum of injuries as diving has both a high speed impact and chronic repetitive components.
Some of the most common injuries include:
Shoulder injuries
- Acute: Subluxations and dislocations
- Chronic: Pinching of the rotator cuff can produce symptoms which include a dull pain or ache over the front or side of the shoulder. This is worsened when the arm is raised overhead.
Neck injuries
- Repetitive extension of the neck on water entry can cause irritation of the neck joints. This can result in muscle spasms and stiffness when rotating the neck or looking up.
- Cervical disc herniation
- “Stingers” (also called burners): intense pains that occur when the nerves that run from the neck to the arm are stretched or compressed.
Because the force of impact is greater with 10-meter platform diving, there are more complaints of neck problems with tower divers.
Elbow injuries
- Hyperextension of elbow on entry to the water can cause a stretch of the ulnar nerve. Symptoms include burning, pain, or numbness along arm down to fingers.
- -- where a loose piece of bone and cartilage separates from the end of the bone because of a loss of blood supply.
Wrist/hand injuries
On entry into the water, divers grasp their hands, one on top of the other with palms facing toward the water. This movement can bend the wrist backwards, and over time can cause pain, swelling, or stiffness at the wrist joint.
Low back pain
- -- stress fractures of bones of the lower spine -- overuse from arching or extending the back. (Worse with back or reverse dives)
-
Disc injury -- low back pain with flexion (Worse with pike or tuck dives)
Knee injuries
- Repetitive jumping occurs during practice
-
("jumper's knee")
Ear disorders
- Swimmer's ear- excess water in the ear canal
-
Ruptured eardrums from impact
Others:
Cuts, scrapes, bruises, fractures, head and facial injuries from hitting the board, platform or pool deck.
So, is Splash the most dangerous reality TV show competition? Check out our story about the dangers of reality TV: and let us know what YOU think.