How Many Paddle Water Sports You Know

Table of Contents

1.The Sport of Canoeing
2.Stand-up Paddle boarding (SUP)
3.Rafting
4.Dragon Boat Racing
5.Rowing Sports
6.Kayaking Sports

Paddle Water Sports

Do you think it is possible to rowing a boat without a paddle? The answer is No! Even if you're just swimming in the water, your hand paddles are of vital importance to propel your body moving forward. As different cultures developed their own versions to propel different kinds of watercraft over the centuries, let's take a look at this blog which I will give you a complete list of paddle water sports.

The Sport of Canoeing

Canoeing is a type of paddle water activity moving by a single-bladed paddle in a lightweight narrow water vessel with one or more riders who kneels or sits facing forward for leisure, navigation or exploration.

Canoeing is an ancient mode of transportation. Back in the early days of canoeing, canoes did not have seats，which makes the riders knelt on the bottom of the boat.

Canoes were an important means of transport for exploration and trade until the mid-19th century and are still used in some places, sometimes with the addition of an outboard motor.

Modern recreational rowing began in the late 19th century. Canoes are now widely used for racing and recreation, such as racing, whitewater, tourism and camping, freestyle swimming, and general recreation. Canoeing became part of the Olympic Games in the summer of 1936. The main form of competitive sport was canoe sprint using a sprint canoe.

Today, however, canoeing is one of the most popular individual sports in Western countries. If boating is your thing, then canoes await your adventure.

Standup Paddleboarding (SUP)

Standup paddleboarding (SUP) is an outdoor water sports activity born from surfing with modern roots in Hawaii. The paddlers stand on boards that are floating on the water, and use a paddle to propel themselves. It is one of the fastest-growing board sports in the world.

In the early 2000's the activity had a revival and SUP racing has become quite popular. Races are often between 5 and 10km. The races can be divided into categories based on equipment, experience, age and race type. Races can be very challenging, due to unpredictable water and weather conditions.

With the advent of inflatable stand-up paddleboarding, the sport became even more popular and accessible. Not only is it a great way to exercise and spend time, but it's also a smart means of transportation that allows you to carry small bags and belongings.

Beyond surfing, SUPing also opens up unexpected new opportunities. Stand-up paddleboarding is also used by yoga, fishing and swimming enthusiasts for specific exercises. Paddlers can also take their boards to surf the waves, paddle in rapids, do yoga and fish.

If you want to paddle board in a more leisurely way while connecting yourself to nature, this type of SUP is an ideal option.

Rafting

Rafting is recreational outdoor activity with the help of paddles without knocking the boat in groups of 6 to 8 persons as well as an experienced guide at its helm, with course classes from 1 to 6 according to the flow heights of the rivers in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers.

This is usually done on rip currents or in varying degrees of waves. Dealing with risk is often part of the experience. Scooting through white water, paddling upstream and doing your best not to fall into the water are all part of this most fascinating sport.

This activity has become popular as a recreational sport since the mid-1970s. It is considered an extremely challenging and dangerous extreme sport that requires a lot of teamwork in most countries around the world.

All rafting races take place on natural channels that flow through rapids. Rafting has two different types of activities,
Sprint: In individual or face to face format, participants must complete the race by the best route.
Slalom: In this type of race, the course consists of slalom like turns that the racer must successfully navigate.

Dragon Boat Racing

The dragon boat is a watercraft that is shaped and decorated as a Chinese Dragon and rowed by people to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month with a far-reaching history of more than 2000 years.

Dragon boat races have proven to be a powerful way for participants to commemorate the past, build cultural Bridges and party on the water. It has become a popular water sport worldwide, spreading to Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia.

Usually, a standard dragon boat race has 22 members, a helmsman, a drummer and 20 sailors. The crew sits on the sides of the boat, 10 people on each side, to keep their balance and row forward with the paddles. The helmsman behind gave direction. The front drummer drums to encourage the sailors and controls the movement and frequency of the oars. The drummer is the soul of the dragon boat team. He guides the rowers to row at a uniform speed. That's why it's so exciting to the audience.

Dragon boat competitions in the international level are usually organized by the International Dragon Boat Federation. A race is most of the time a sprint event. The most common distances are 200, 500, 1000, and 2000 meters. The races for a 2000-meter race are usually held on a 500-meter course.

Rowing Sports

Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is one of the oldest Olympic sports, a competition in which a longboat is propelled through the water at high speed using wood pulp (also called OARS).

Rowing has two forms, sweep in which each rower has one oar held with two hands; and skulling in which each rower has to oars, there’s one in each hand. The boats used are racing boats, which are also called shells, they are long, narrow and semi-circular. The oars used are long (about 250-300 cm), and have a flat end which is also called the blade.

Kayaking Sports

Kayaking is the use of a kayak originally invented for hunting to move over water. A kayak is a small and narrow-like lightweight boat that sits low in the water in which the paddler sits facing forward, legs in front, using a double-bladed paddle to pull front-to-back on one side and then the other in rotation. But now kayaks are mainly used for recreation and competitive sporting events worldwide.

A conventional sit-inside kayak has a watertight covering at the top that is just wide enough for a paddler to sit in. Kayakers will either sit on an elevated bench seat or kneel directly on the bottom of the boat with two knees or one knee in the "high kneel" posture.

Competitive canoeing can be done on flat water (sprint canoeing), in whitewater in an obstacle course (canoeing obstacle course), and in standing waves (playing boat). Other canoeing competitions are river racing, freestyle canoeing and extreme canoeing.

Kayaking has been part of the Summer Olympics since the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.