Diving

Vikas Chinnan stood over a tank at the world's largest aquarium, peering down at the world's largest fish species. He was wondering what it would be like to jump in and frolic beside the whale sharks. The creature approached, eerily quiet. It was longer than a Ford Expedition, impossibly elegant as it banked into a turn at the tank's edge, flexing its gray, massive, mottled form into a parabola of living flesh.

New home sales are up. The unemployment rate is falling. Companies are buying one another, signaling confidence in the economy. But investors are turning their back on positive economic signs, looking nervously at Europe's seemingly never-ending debt troubles and Facebook's flat IPO, wondering whether the global economy is beginning yet another deep dive. "Although better economic data did not go unnoticed, investors look forward and not backward," said David Dietze, president and chief investment strategist at Point View Wealth Management in Summit, N.J. "All eyes are looking across the pond and seeing a bit of a meltdown in terms of the European sovereign debt crisis.

Mark Lenzi of Fredericksburg, Va., became the first diver in history to score 100 points on a single dive as he won the three-meter springboard title at the U.S. Indoor Diving Championships at Minneapolis. On his final dive, Lenzi earned 101.85 points on a reverse 3 1/2-somersault from the tuck position to break the record of 99.00 points, set in 1983 by Greg Louganis on a 1 1/2-somersault with 3 1/2 twists. Lenzi finished with 710.84 points.

Phoenix Coyotes Coach Dave Tippett appeared to take a dive on his diving charge. Thursday Tippett felt the Kings were well suited to be playing near Hollywood, given their acting abilities, saying "more than one penalty" against his team "were plays where there was embellishment. " Friday Tippett said his comments weren't "geared toward that game last night. " So was there embellishment by the Kings during the game or by Tippett after it? Either this is a coach who has had enough of players taking a dive or someone's team is down 3-0 in the Western Conference finals.

Reporting from Durban, South Africa — Early in the second half of the Netherlands' World Cup quarterfinal with Brazil, Dutch forward Arjen Robben jumped high in the air, then fell to the ground violently as if he'd been shot. Never mind the fact that Brazilian defender Michel Bastos, the man closest to Robben, never touched him. Referee Yuichi Nishimura bought the act, awarded Holland a free kick that Wesley Sneijder turned into a goal, and half an hour later Brazil was on its way home.

Los Angeles was host to the Summer Olympics 25 years ago. This final part of a 16-day series looks back at Sunday, Aug. 12, 1984. The big news Greg Louganis won his second medal in four days by besting 11 opponents in the men's 10-meter platform final. Louganis became the first diver in history to break the 700 mark on the platform, scoring 710.91 points. Louganis established a 67.41-point lead over the silver medalist, Bruce Kimball. Louganis also carved his name in the record books by becoming the third athlete in Olympic history to win both the three-meter springboard and the platform -- a feat that hadn't been done since the 1920s.

My mentor had the greatest possible contempt for professional golfers. He believed they had no concept of, or interest in, the real world. He hypothesized that if hydrogen bombs were dropped on American soil, not one pro golfer would know or care about it, unless of course it wiped out that day's play. I never shared his generalizations about golfers, just as he never shared mine about divers. Divers are all alike, I would joke. They are fish. They can function only in water.

I have been shark diving at Guadalupe, Mexico, many, many times over the years and was very disappointed that your article "Swimming With Sharks" [Feb. 26] neglected to mention the several other responsible, safe and eco-friendly operators who offer these trips. They vary greatly in price and accommodations and service. Your article was biased in that it mentioned one operator only. KAREN MOORE Malibu

Top diving competitors from across the nation are in Irvine this summer to work with three nationally recognized coaches--and the program is not limited to top competitors. Divers of all ability levels from age 5 to senior citizens may sign up. The McCormick Diving Team, named after coach and former national champion Debbie McCormick, has caught the attention of the most promising U.S. divers.

Early morning sunlight warmed the Pierce College pool when Motoki Wakabayashi, the fellow from the Land of the Rising Sun, appeared through a gate, hauling a sports bag and powered by roller blades. "Is this how you usually get around?" he was asked. "No," he answered. "My bike was stolen." Welcome to L.A., Motoki. After being in town for little more than a year, Wakabayashi now can feel like he truly belongs, although this wasn't exactly the acclimation he had in mind.

The strange thing about turning points is you don't often know they've taken place until weeks, sometimes months, later. Just don't say that too loudly around the players on the Galaxy, though, because they're trying to convince themselves they've already experienced the moment when their luck began to change for the better. It came last week in Colorado, a minute into stoppage time, when a controversial foul call gave the Rapids' Omar Cummings a chance to extend the Galaxy's winless streak on the road with a penalty kick.

A new British pub and restaurant called the Pikey opened on Easter in the space that used to house the more than 70-year-old dive bar Ye Coach & Horses. When that relic closed nearly two years ago due to a controversial eviction, a spirited Save the Coach & Horses campaign ensued, followed by a flutter of press. Then it was over — the bar closed and the city moved on. When the curtain was again raised on the latest incarnation of the historic room — where famous British ex-pats Alfred Hitchcock and Richard Burton were known to tipple — it became clear that a new era had dawned for the place: A cleaner, brighter era without the questionable bathroom facilities and lager-drenched industrial carpet.

It was a freezing night in March 1978 - and the small, determined woman climbing next to me up the icy incline to the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for women leaned on a cane. I wanted to take her arm, but because she was famously fiercely independent, I hesitated. Later, I thought that I was right to hold back: Adrienne Rich was that kind of standard-bearer, accustomed to her own "climb," accustomed to a righteous loneliness in her ascent. In 1978, Adrienne Rich was not an old woman, but the degenerative arthritis that eventually crippled her had already begun to compromise her free movement - hence the cane.

The Challenger Deep, a fissure in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, lies farther below the Earth's surface than Mt. Everest reaches above it. And James Cameron, the science-enthralled director and underwater explorer, made it his Lindbergh moment, soloing humankind's deepest-ever plunge last month in a purpose-made submarine fitted out - natch - with 3D cameras. One hundred years ago today, the world's most famous accidental deep dive took the ocean liner Titanic to the bottom of the Atlantic.

The once-famed Steel Pier on the long-faded Atlantic City Boardwalk will invest more than $100 million on new amusement rides and entertainment venues after scrapping plans to revive its centerpiece diving horse act amid an outcry by animal rights activists. PHOTOS: New rides at Steel Pier in Atlantic City Located across from Donald Trump's Taj Mahal casino on the New Jersey shore, the 1,000-foot-long amusement pier will add 11 rides, an arcade, nightclub, museum and ballroom during a four-year expansion project.

MINNEAPOLIS -- C.J. Wilson battled the elements -- a game-time temperature of 45 degrees with wind gusts up to 31 mph -- and some control problems to notch his first victory as an Angel, allowing one run and three hits in seven innings of a 5-1 win over the Minnesota Twins in Target Field. Wilson, the occasionally wild left-hander, walked four in the first five innings Monday, but none of those he issued free passes to came around to score. The only run Wilson allowed was a fourth-inning homer by Josh Willingham.

Troy Dumais became the first diver to make the U.S. Olympic team. Dumais completed a dominating performance in the 3-meter springboard Saturday at the trials in Indianapolis. The 28-year-old from Ventura will be making his third trip to the Olympics. He was sixth in the event at Sydney and Athens. Only the trials winner is awarded a spot on the team. Chris Colwill, who finished second, will be favored for his first Olympic berth when the rest of the squad is named next month in Tennessee.

Diver Perry White of Van Nuys is still around for today's U.S. Olympic Festival springboard finals. But just barely. In Thursday's prelims, the 23-year-old White, a graduate of Notre Dame High School, collected 530.94 points to place him 11th behind leader Greg Louganis (721.38). The top dozen advance to the finals at Raleigh's Candler Swim Club. White graduated from the University of Alabama two months ago after a senior year that saw him named the Southeastern Conference's Diver of the Year.

Deep Ocean Expeditions offers the ultimate Titanic tour this summer: See the shipwreck firsthand from a tiny submersible during the 100th anniversary of its sinking. Despite the stiff $60,000 price tag, the Titanic dives became so popular among tourists that the company added a third trip. Now expedition coordinator Rob McCallum tells National Geographic News that Titanic dives planned for July and August will be the company's last. Deep Ocean holds the exclusive charter for Titanic dives.

Reporting from Phoenix -- All those years the Angels pined for a power-hitting third baseman, and now they may have found one right under their noses. Mark Trumbo , making his eighth start of the spring at third, dived to his left to stop Rickie Weeks' fifth-inning shot and threw to second for an out, then lined a solo home run to right-center field off Francisco Rodriguez in the eighth to highlight the Angels' 6-3 split-squad victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday. Few expect the 6-foot-4, 225-pound Trumbo to be the next Brooks Robinson — or Troy Glaus , for that matter — on defense, and he has already made three errors this spring.