Although belly-flop injuries rarely occur, when they do they can harm your body.

The higher you jump or dive from, the quicker you will hit the water. In fact a few experts believe that you can achieve speed of up to 40 mph diving from a 10-meter board (almost 33 feet). Furthermore as superb as the water feels when you are in it, it doesn’t act that way when you enter it at a high speed; like some do when doing a belly-flop.

The most well-known wounds seen with a belly-flop are contusions or bruising of the skin. It’s not often that these bruises go deeper and affect your internal organs, but they can. Deeper stomach damage from a belly-flop is regarded as obtuse stomach trauma. It’s similar to being hit really hard on your stomach. It can damage organs like your liver, kidney, pancreas and the bowels. Not only is the abdomen taking the brunt of landing into the water at a high velocity, there is also a sudden deceleration, both can cause trauma to the organs. Children are more vulnerable than adults because they have less stomach fat and a generally bigger abdominal cavity. 

It’s normal for the skin to sting for a while after a belly-flop. But if the pain is persistent, or you notice blood in your urine or stool, medical attention is required.

One of the biggest dangers for divers is when they leap from a high area not knowing how deep the water below them is. Hitting the bottom of a pool, lake or river headfirst can cause a spinal injury, which can lead to paralysis or even death.

Continuously determine that the pool is deep enough before you jump or belly-flop. If you have any doubts, always jump feet first. A pool with a 1-meter springboard must be at least 11.5 feet deep at the point right under the edge of the diving board. For a 3-meter board, the water must be 12.5 feet deep. For a 10-meter platform, the water ought to be 16 feet deep. When you dive, be sure to dive off the tip of the diving board. Never dive from the side, because there is a risk of hitting the side of the pool or landing on a sloped bottom near a wall.

Swimming is a great activity, but when it comes to diving or belly-flopping it’s recommended that you take some precautions so you can stay healthy and happy this summer.