50 Fun Facts About Water Sports

Jet Ski, a name used loosely for any personal watercraft, is actually a product line of which maker?

Kawasaki built the Jet Ski on a stand-up design by Clayton Jacobson II, a motocross rider who had first licensed his sit-down version to Bombardier, maker of the original Sea-Doo.

Righting a capsized hunting craft unaided from inside it, a skill of Greenland's Inuit hunters, was long known as what?

Eskimo roll is the older name for the roll, a survival skill: a 1911 Greenland survey found 867 of 2,228 hunters with their own boats could do it.

In surfing and other board sports, what is a rider who stands with the right foot forward called?

Goofy riders lead with the right foot, the mirror of the regular stance; riding with the unfamiliar foot forward is called switch, and street skateboarders train to land their tricks both ways.

Olympic triathletes swam in which river in 2024, after failed pollution tests delayed the men's race by a day?

The Seine had been closed to bathers since 1923, and a clean-up costing about €1.4 billion was meant to make it fit for the Games; the men's race still slipped from 30 to 31 July.

Which nation's divers won all eight golds at Paris 2024, the first sweep of the full eight-event programme?

China had fallen one gold short at both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, beaten each time in a men's synchronised event; in Paris the runner-up nation took five medals without a gold.

Which stroke began in the 1930s as a faster arm action swum within breaststroke races?

Butterfly arms spread until all but one finalist used them in the 1948 Olympic breaststroke, so the two styles were split and butterfly got its own Olympic races in 1956.

Which stroke opens every medley relay, because of the way its swimmers have to start?

Backstroke goes first because its swimmers start in the water, where on a later leg they would block the incoming swimmer; in the individual medley it is swum second.

Dawn Fraser drew a ten-year ban after the Tokyo 1964 Games, accused of taking what as a souvenir?

A flag from a pole outside Emperor Hirohito's palace was the alleged prize; in the end she was given the flag to keep.

What do surfers call pushing the board under an oncoming wave to break through it while paddling out?

Duck dive means sinking the board nose first under the wave; riders of buoyant longboards turtle roll instead, flipping the board over and hanging beneath it as the wave passes.

Which sport debuted at Paris 2024 within the sailing regatta, its riders racing on hydrofoil boards?

Kiteboarding was voted into the Rio 2016 Games in place of windsurfing in May 2012, but sailing's federation reversed the decision that November, so its debut waited for Paris.

Dragon boat races, paddled to a drum, commemorate the death of which ancient poet and court minister?

Qu Yuan is said to have drowned himself in the Miluo River when his state's capital fell, and tradition holds that the races recall the villagers who raced out in boats to save him or recover his body.

Which privilege, along with a clenched-fist punch, belongs only to water polo goalkeepers near their own goal?

Two-handed touches and the fist punch belong to the goalkeeper only inside the six-metre area; beyond it a keeper plays under the same one-handed rule as everyone else.

Kelly Slater's inland Surf Ranch wave pool, host of the WSL Founders Cup in 2018, is in which US state?

California, not Slater's native Florida, hosts the ranch, built outside the inland town of Lemoore; a sister Surf Ranch planned for Florida was later cancelled.

The 1985 Skurfer, a hybrid of a surfboard and a water ski, was an early board in which towed sport?

Wakeboarding grew out of Tony Finn's Skurfer, a board so buoyant that riders struggled to stand up on it; easier boards followed, and riders now use the boat's wake as a launch ramp for midair tricks.

Ralph Samuelson invented water skiing in 1922, riding two pine boards at Lake City in which US state?

Minnesota's Lake Pepin was his proving ground: after days of sinking, Samuelson found that leaning back with his ski tips up was the trick, and was soon performing exhibitions for crowds.

Until the Sydney 2000 Games, Olympic sailing was officially known by what other name?

Yachting was the official label from the first modern Games, although the 1896 Athens regatta itself was cancelled, and the discontinued classes live on in the Vintage Yachting Games introduced in 2008.

Which cycling tactic is legal on the bike leg of elite World Triathlon races but banned in most amateur events?

Drafting, riding in another rider's slipstream, turns elite races into pack affairs, while in most amateur races riders must hold a gap to the wheel in front.

Which American sprinter won five golds at Tokyo 2020, only the fifth American to do so at one Games since 1970?

Caeleb Dressel took the 100 m freestyle by six hundredths of a second from Kyle Chalmers, the defending champion, and closed his Games with a world-record medley relay.

In rowing, what is the mishap of an oar blade jamming in the water called, which can even eject the rower?

Catching a crab leaves the blade acting as a brake until it is freed; a severe one can fling the oar handle over the rower's head.

WaveRunner personal watercraft, rivals to the Sea-Doo, come from which Japanese maker better known for motorcycles?

Yamaha's WaveRunner arrived in 1986, the year the company signed personal-watercraft inventor Clayton Jacobson II as a consultant, and its sit-down saddle layout came to dominate the market.

Who swam 1 km at the geographic North Pole in 2007, in minus 1.7 °C water, to highlight melting Arctic ice?

Lewis Pugh took 18 minutes 50 seconds, paced by Jørgen Amundsen, a great-grandnephew of polar explorer Roald Amundsen, who skied along the ice beside him.

In 1987 Lynne Cox made a Cold War goodwill swim between the Diomede Islands, which face each other across which strait?

The Bering crossing from American Little Diomede to Soviet Big Diomede took just over two hours, and Gorbachev praised her swim at the White House that December while signing a nuclear arms treaty.

Which swimmer became the first woman to win six gold medals at a single Olympic Games, in 1988?

Kristin Otto had been shut out of the 1984 Games by the Soviet-led boycott; on her Olympic debut four years later, her six golds came in three different strokes and two relays.

Which new women's freestyle distance did Katie Ledecky win in Tokyo, just 73 minutes after a 200 m final?

The 1500 m freestyle was the longest pool race women had ever swum at a Games; Ledecky led it from start to finish after placing only fifth in that 200 m final.

A disputed hand-timed 1960 Olympic 100 m final between Lance Larson and John Devitt paved the way for what?

Electronic touchpads replaced three stopwatches per lane: Larson's timers had him at 55.0 to 55.1, Devitt's all at 55.2, yet a split judging panel gave Devitt gold.

Which team won the first mixed-gender Olympic swimming race, the 4×100 m medley relay at Tokyo 2020?

Great Britain put its two men on the middle legs, where James Guy took the lead on the third, and Anna Hopkin brought the world record home in 3:37.58 on the anchor.

What do divers call a vertical finish that leaves almost no splash?

Rip entry is the goal of the final phase: palms flat and arms locked, the vacuum drags the splash down until it is too deep to disturb the surface.

Alfréd Hajós, the first Olympic swimming champion in 1896, won another Olympic medal in 1924 in which field?

Architecture earned Hajós a silver in the Paris art competitions for a stadium design made with Dezső Lauber; the jury awarded no gold.

The Olympic 49er skiff, a two-person high-performance dinghy, takes its name from what feature?

Its 4.99 m hull length came from a Japanese tariff: the brief asked for a 5 m boat, but boats over 5 m were taxed in Japan, so the designers shaved it.

A Dutch pair won 1900 Olympic rowing gold after swapping its cox before the final for whom?

A local French boy, picked because regular cox Hermanus Brockmann weighed 60 kg, steered François Brandt and Roelof Klein to gold, and his name was never recorded.

Which rower won gold at five consecutive Olympics, from Los Angeles 1984 to Sydney 2000?

Steve Redgrave told a TV interviewer after his fourth gold in 1996 that anyone who saw him near a boat again had permission to shoot him, then resumed training within months and won in Sydney.

New Zealand's Hamish Bond and Eric Murray went unbeaten from 2009 through Rio 2016 in which rowing boat class?

Coxless pair racing was their second act: after the New Zealand four they rowed in missed the final at Beijing 2008, the two teamed up and went 69 races unbeaten until retiring after Rio.

Birgit Fischer, Olympic canoeing's youngest and oldest champion, won her first gold in 1980 for which country?

East Germany's boycott kept her out of the 1984 Games, and she retired after Sydney 2000, only to come back and win an eighth gold for unified Germany in Athens at 42, 24 years after her first at 18.

In canoe slalom, gates hung with red-and-white poles, unlike green ones, must be negotiated in which direction?

Upstream gates are usually hung in eddies, where the water sits flat or flows back up the course, so paddlers swing out of the main current to take them.

Which flatwater kayaker became New Zealand's most successful Olympian, with eight golds by Paris 2024?

Lisa Carrington won the K1 200 m at three straight Games from London to Tokyo, where she took two of her golds on the same day; she was made a Dame in the 2022 New Year Honours.

Which Australian won the women's C1 canoe slalom at both Tokyo 2020, the event's debut, and Paris 2024?

Jessica Fox finally added K1 gold in Paris after a silver and two bronzes, coached by her mother Myriam, who won an Olympic slalom bronze of her own for France in 1996.

In tournament water-ski slalom, what is shortened after each clean pass once the boat is at top speed?

Rope length is cut in fixed steps once the boat reaches top speed, 58 km/h for men, so each pass leaves the skier a longer reach around the six turn buoys until one is missed.

Which sport, invented in 1954 for a Portsmouth diving club's winter months, was first called Octopush?

Underwater hockey is played along the pool floor with a short stick called a pusher, and players must hold their breath, since no breathing gear is allowed during play.

The Rottnest Channel Swim, 19.7 km from Cottesloe to an island offshore, is held in which Australian state?

Western Australia's Rottnest Island was named in 1696 by Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh, who called it 'rats' nest island' after its quokkas; the modern race dates from 1991.

The 10 km Olympic marathon swims at Rio 2016 started and finished off which famous beach?

Copacabana's fort was the base for both races; marathon swimming had joined the Games only in 2008, although the very first Olympic swimmers, in 1896, raced in open water in the Bay of Zea.

Which canoe slalom event, new for Paris 2024, launches boats together off a ramp and replaced K-1 200 m racing?

Kayak cross, once called extreme slalom, borrows its format from BMX and ski cross, and paddlers must capsize and recover during the run.

Which American won the first Olympic men's 50 m freestyle title, in 1988?

Matt Biondi went in as the underdog: Tom Jager was the favourite and the world-record holder, yet Biondi took the gold and the record in 22.14 seconds, with Jager second.

Ice swimming races, in water of 5 °C or colder, ban kit made of which material?

Neoprene is out: an ice swim is meant to be unassisted, so there is no wetsuit and not even a neoprene cap, just goggles, a standard swimsuit and a silicone cap.

The Nacra 17, raced by one man and one woman since its Olympic debut at Rio 2016, is what type of boat?

Catamaran racing had vanished from the Games after 2008, when the Tornado class was dropped, and returned at Rio in sailing's first event reserved for mixed crews.

Which breaststroker became the first man under 57 seconds for 100 m, clocking 56.88 at the 2019 Worlds?

Adam Peaty, who as a small boy was so scared of water that he fought bath time, set the mark in a semi-final before any other man had even broken 58 seconds.

Which Danish sailor won individual gold at every Olympics from 1948 to 1960, first in a Firefly, then in Finns?

Paul Elvstrøm competed at eight Games across 40 years and built a garage training bench with toe-straps to replicate hiking out of his dinghy.

The Augsburg Eiskanal, the first artificial whitewater course, was built for canoe slalom's Olympic debut at which city's Games?

Munich's organisers built the channel in nearby Augsburg, fed by the river Lech; artificial courses proved so costly that slalom then vanished from the Games until 1992.

Which three-time Olympic C1 slalom champion went on to lead the organising committee for Paris 2024?

Tony Estanguet followed his older brother Patrice, an Olympic bronze medallist in 1996, and the two later helped create the whitewater stadium in their home town of Pau.

Which windsurf class replaced the RS:X board for the Paris 2024 Olympic regatta at Marseille?

iQFoil boards can fly above the water on a hydrofoil, the first Olympic windsurfing class able to do so, after World Sailing picked it for 2024.

The Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming pairs the English and Catalina Channels with a circuit of which island?

Manhattan's 20 Bridges Swim, once the Manhattan Island Swim, is the one leg that is not a sea crossing: a full lap of the island by way of the East, Harlem and Hudson rivers.