Noise Level Unnerves the Competitors : Diving: Crowd etiquette problem reaches a peak in men’s platform finals, then appears to be solved.

As hosts of the Pan American Games, the Cuban organizers have displayed impeccable manners. However, as fans attending events, Cubans have been receiving poor grades for etiquette.

From diving and track and field events held here, to gymnastics competition in Santiago de Cuba 600 miles away, athletes and officials are complaining that the noisiness of fans attending events has disrupted and diminished the Games.

The worst came Saturday during the men’s platform diving competition. The atmosphere got so out of hand that USOC President Robert Helmick said Sunday that he planned to speak to the meet director about gaining control of the crowd.

“I’m very concerned about the situation at diving,” Helmick said. “There was a situation that the head of the meet should have not let occur. That does indeed interfere with the performances. I’m very disappointed that the meet management didn’t get the situation solved.”

It was solved Sunday. The meet referee kept strict control over the competition, frequently shooing people off the pool deck and admonishing the crowd to remain quiet. Unlike Saturday’s competition, only one diver in the women’s platform Sunday stopped and started again because of noise.

Eileen Richetelli of Milford, Conn., won the gold medal, Alison Maisch of Cherry Hill, N.J., won the silver and, to the delight of the crowd, Maria Elana Carmuza of Cuba won the bronze.

With only a few noisy lapses, the crowd at the new pool complex was on its best behavior. Divers other than the two Cubans received little more than token, polite applause, but there were no disruptive demonstrations as happened in the men’s event.

In the men’s platform finals Saturday, U.S. diver Patrick Jeffrey and Mexican diver Jesus Mena were awarded re-dives, a rare occurrence in international diving competition. Jeffrey requested a re-dive in the seventh round, when the crowd was at its loudest.

“It was starting to happen to more than one person,” Jeffrey said. “I felt it was rude and needed to be stopped. It has no place at a diving meet. When I came off the tower, someone let out a shrieking whistle and it broke my concentration for just a split second. And the whole dive was a split second off.

“I’ve never asked to dive over again. I’ve been diving for 15 years and I’ve never done that. It was weird because after I did that dive, I didn’t feel like diving any more. It just changed the meet. People were trying to stop me from doing my best.

“I can understand them cheering for Cubans, and they obviously performed very well today, but to whistle in the middle of a dive was rude and it was happening to other people, too.”

And in other sports. American high jumper Hollis Conway said Saturday that the crowd noise while he was preparing to jump was distracting and hurt his performance. Tennis has been unusually noisy. In gymnastics, athletes were falling off the balance beam because of jeering and at times the crowd noise made it impossible for gymnasts to hear their floor exercise music.

“I don’t think Cubans are as educated in the sport,” said Mary Woynerowski, whose daughter, Anne, was taking part in her second international competition. “We are exposed to so many sports on television that we know how to behave when we see them in person. I don’t think they (Cubans) are as sophisticated about the sport.”

That may be at the core of the problem. Because entrance to events is free to Cubans, fans are turning out in great numbers. Fans are also watching sports they’ve never seen before. They know little of the rules of the game, much less the rules of etiquette.

“This is a feature that you have to take into account,” said Manuel Zayas Teran, a press officer for the Pan Am Organizing Committee. “In tennis, we first had experience in this sport in 1985 with the Davis Cup. We have had to educate the people on behavior in this sport. They like to make a big noise.”

Cubans, as fans, are most familiar with baseball--where anything goes. They take this understanding of crowd behavior with them to sports where quiet restraint is the accepted ethic. Small wonder there is a cultural clash.

“We can say that some fans have attended events as a result of the Pan American boom,” Teran said. “Many are getting excited without being educated about the fashion of each sport. They must learn that everything is not like baseball.”

Rowdy behavior at baseball games grew to be such a problem in Cuba a few years ago that the selling of rum and beer at stadiums was banned. Teran said it was remarkable how much better behaved fans became after the sale of alcohol was banned.

No alcohol is being sold at Pan American venues.

Cuban officials are listening to the complaints. But they are also aware that anyone who attempts to strictly restrain the fervor of this sports-loving nation is bound to failure.

This is one situation where the guests will have to plug their ears and make the best of it.