Canoeing
is one of the oldest activities on earth. As far back as there were men, there
were canoes. The Eskimos used kayaks to get across lakes and Indians used canoes
to get around too.
In Olympic canoeing there are two kinds of races. One is Canoe/Kayak flatwater racing. That is when the water is calm and the race is to see who finishes first. There are teams of one or more that race together. The other event is Canoe/Kayak slalom racing. In this event the race happens on a natural (usually a river) or man-made course in which the racers have to go through a series of gates without touching them with their boat, paddle, or any part of their body. Canoes can have a one or two person crew. Kayaks can have a one, two, or four person crew. Both men and women can race in the Kayak flatwater and Kayak slalom racing but there are only men’s competitions for Canoe flatwater and slalom racing.
Men's canoeing was added to the Olympic competition in 1936 and women's in 1948. At the Olympics
