Around the time you originally posted your thoughts on “dove” I was rushing around the house. I did look in my Oxfords and also in Fowler.
Dived is the correct past-tense of the verb “dive.” However, Fowlers listed “dove” as a past tense form used in American English since the late 19th century and did not cite it as incorrect, just regional.
I have to say, as a Midwesterner, “I dove into the pool and touched the bottom” sounds standard where “I dived into the pool and touched the bottom” does not.
The word “dive” is both a noun and a verb, so we have a lot going on as it is old word going back to middle English.
Good info. Thanks KC.