There were four diving events, one for women and three for men, held at Stockholm. The dives were scored by five judges, who gave point scores, but also ranked the divers based on ordinals, similar to figure skating. In the preliminary rounds, the divers were ranked within their heats by ordinals, but advancement to the final was based on points scored independent of the heat. In the finals, placements were decided on total ordinal ranking with total points used to break ties.

This competition consisted of two compulsory dives from 1 metre and two compulsory dives from 3 metres, followed by three optionals from 3 metres, which could be selected from a table of 18 allowable dives. Germany swept the first four places. After the compulsory dives, Zürner and Günther led, with Jansson close behind them. Günther dove brilliantly during the optional dives and was placed first by four of the five judges. The competition for the bronze medal was very close, with total ordinal scores of 22-23-24 given to Jansson, Zürner, and Hans Luber. The fourth-place finisher, Albert Zürner, was the defending Olympic champion from this event in London.

The competition was actually held from both 3 metre and 1 metre boards. Divers performed a running plain dive and a running forward somersault from the 1 metre board, a standing plain dive and a running plain dive from the 3 metre board, and three dives of the competitor's choice from the 3 metre board. Five judges scored each diver, giving two results. Each judge gave an ordinal placing for each diver in a group, with the five scores being summed to give a total ordinal points score. The judges also gave scores more closely resembling the modern scoring system.

In this event, the divers executed one plain running dive and one backwards somersault dive from 5 metres, one plain running dive and one plain standing dive from 10 metres, and three optional dives from 10 metres. The optional dives were to be selected from a table 13 allowable dives. Erik Adlerz had already won the plain high diving competition. Adlerz was leading on all judges totals going into his last dive, a flying somersault, but failed badly on it, and was then ranked second by two of the judges, trailing Albert Zürner. However, he was ranked first by three judges, and his total ordinal score of seven enabled him to win the championship.

The competition was actually held from both 10 metre and 5 metre platforms. Divers performed a standing plain dive and a running plain dive from the 10 metre platform, a running plain dive and a backward somersault from the 5 metre platform, and three dives of the competitor's choice from the 10 metre platform. Five judges scored each diver, giving two results. Each judge gave an ordinal placing for each diver in a group, with the five scores being summed to give a total ordinal points score. The judges also gave scores more closely resembling the modern scoring system.

The plain high diving event consisted of one running dive and one standing dive from 5 metres and one standing dive and two running dives from 10 metres. All the dives were selected from a table of 13 allowable dives. Erik Adlerz won the event relatively easily, placing first on four of the five judges’ cards, the fifth judge placing him third. Adlerz won the plain and fancy high diving four days later to win two diving gold medals in Stockholm. The silver medal went to Hjalmar Johansson, who was the defending Olympic champion, in a very close battle with his teammate, Johan “John” Jansson. They tied on total ordinals, but Johansson defeated Jansson by 2/10ths of a point. The Swedes swept the first four places.

The competition was actually held from both 10 metre and 5 metre platforms. Divers performed a total of five dives: a standing dive and two running dives from the 10 metre platform, and a standing dive and a running dive from the 5 metre platform. Five judges scored each diver, giving two results. Each judge gave an ordinal placing for each diver in a group, with the five scores being summed to give a total ordinal points score. The judges also gave scores more closely resembling the modern scoring system.

This was the first Olympic diving competition for women and it consisted of two compulsory dives from 5 metres and three compulsory dives from 10 metres. Twelve of the 14 competitors were Swedish and seven of the eight finalists were Swedes. Margareta “Greta” Johansson won easily, being placed first by all five judges. She was awarded a gold medal and the Challenge Trophy for the women’s plain high diving, which was donated in 1912 by Christina Nilsson, the Countess de Casa Miranda.

Johansson later emigrated to the United States in 1913, where she married Ernst Brandsten, seventh in 1912 Men’s Plain High Diving. They settled in California and Ernst was coach at Stanford for many U.S. Olympic divers. He was also coach of the U.S. Olympic diving team in 1936 at Berlin.

The competition was actually held from both 10 metre and 5 metre platforms. Divers performed a standing plain dive and a running plain dive from the 10 metre platform, a running plain dive and a backward somersault from the 5 metre platform, and three dives of the competitor's choice from the 10 metre platform. Five judges scored each diver, giving two results. Each judge gave an ordinal placing for each diver in a group, with the five scores being summed to give a total ordinal points score. The judges also gave scores more closely resembling the modern scoring system.