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In my younger years, I've seen this wonderful movie called Back to School. There Rodney Dangerfield alias Thornton Melon performs the Triple Lindy (1'09'').
Has anybody ever seen a "Triple Lindy" being performed in real life or has a reference to an occurrence?
Searching the internet for a possible answers, made me realize that this question has been asked many times before.
Below some of the things I found along the way.
In this interview, the director Alan Metter explains the origin of the Triple Lindy:
Q: I have to ask about the "Triple Lindy" dive. Who came up with the actual silly dive itself? How long did it take to film and were there any challenges?
and the response of Alan:
A: The Triple Lindy was the vision of writer Michael Elias, Triple Lindy who I met on a television special for Steve Martin. He was talking with Rodney about the diving horse act on the boardwalk in Atlantic City in the 40s. Suddenly he said, "Hey, why don't you do an impossible dive...The Triple Lindy..." I knew immediately I had struck gold. What an idea! Rodney's sport had been swimming before this, which gave me pause. I knew diving was an event even out-of-shape Rodney could finish! Because of the tight schedule, I made the shots with Rodney and our editor, David Rollins, shot the double in one day with a second unit (thus the inconsistency in the light, if you look at it again). When I showed it to Rodney, we shook our heads in agreement that this might be the dumbest joke ever put on film. He loved it!
The last remark makes it even more obvious that this dive has never been performed before !!
The answer is no, the Triple Lindy has never been (successfully) performed in real life. I have heard of a few people attempting it, but none have been successful, because the only people skilled enough to perform it are also smart enough to realise that it's a stupid idea.
The YouTube video Jacob linked in his answer is certainly not a Triple Lindy attempt. Notice that the diver was still curled into a ball when he hit the adjacent springboard. Also note the "triple" in "Triple Lindy".
I would have thought it impossible, but in about 1968, at a local pool, there was a college diver I only recall as Archie. Off a 3 meter board, he would do a reverse flip, land back on the board, continue through a 1 1/2, land on one of the side 1 meter boards, go into another forward 1 1/2, and then enter the water. At the Jones Beach west bathhouse, there were 5 boards. I’ve seen divers go off 2 different boards and cross in the air and some divers dive using multiple boards to complete a single dive comprised of multiple launches and landings. Never saw one called a Triple Lindy, but have to believe someone can do it.
