Water sports or aquatic sports are

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

activities conducted on

waterbodies A body of water or waterbody is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as ponds, wetlands, or more ra ...

and can be categorized according to the degree of immersion by the participants.

On the water

Boat racing Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water body, water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and ...

, the use of powerboats to participate in races *

Boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether powerboats, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sports activities, suc ...

, the use of boats for personal recreation *

Bodyboarding Bodyboarding is a water sports, water sport in which the surfing, surfer rides a bodyboard on the crest, face, and curl of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore. Bodyboarding is also referred to as ''Boogieboarding'' due to the in ...

similar to surfing, it involves catching a wave aboard a floating board — only this platform is made primarily of foam. *

Cable skiing Cable skiing is a way to water ski (or wakeboard), in which the skier's rope and handle are pulled by an electrically driven cable, whereas traditionally a waterskier is pulled by a motorboat. The mechanism consists of two cables running paral ...

, similar to wake boarding but with cables for artificial maneuvering *

Canoe polo Canoe polo, also known as kayak polo or polo (to players and fans), is one of the competitive disciplines of kayaking. It incorporates ball-handling skills into a contact team game, wherein group tactics and positional play are as important as in ...

combines boating and ball-handling skills with a contact team game, where tactics and positional play are as important as the speed and fitness of the individual athletes. *

Canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Most present-day canoeing is done as or as a part of a sport or recreational activity. *

Canyoning Canyoning (canyoneering in the United States, kloofing in South Africa) is a sport that involves traveling through canyons using a variety of techniques, such as walking, scrambling, climbing, jumping, abseiling (rappelling), swimming, and raft ...

is a sport that involves traveling through canyons using a variety of techniques, such as walking, scrambling, climbing, jumping, abseiling (rappelling), swimming, and rafting *

Dragon boat racing A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft originating from the Pearl River Delta region of China's southern Guangdong Province. These were made of teak, but in other parts of China different kinds of wood are used. It is one of a family of t ...

, teams of 20 paddlers racing the ancient dragon boat *

Fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

, the recreation and sport of catching fish *

Flyboard A Flyboard is a brand of hydroflight sports, hydroflighting device which supplies propulsion to drive the Flyboard into the air to perform a sport known as hydroflying.ExamplesFlyboard Ultimate SupercutPower Board Expert. A Flyboard rider sta ...

is a brand of hydroflighting device that supplies propulsion to drive the Flyboard into the air to perform a sport known as hydroflying. * Jet Skiing is performed with a recreational watercraft that the rider sits or stands on, rather than sits inside of, as in a boat. *

Kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

is the use of a kayak for moving across water * Kiteboating is the act of using a kite rig as a power source to propel a boat *

Kneeboarding Kneeboarding is an aquatic sport where the participant is towed on a buoyant, convex, and hydrodynamically shaped board at a planing speed, most often behind a motorboat. Kneeboarding on a surf style board with fin(s) is also done in waves at t ...

is an aquatic sport where the participant is towed on a buoyant, convex, and hydrodynamically shaped board at a planing speed, most often behind a motorboat. *

Paddleboarding Paddleboarding is a water sport in which participants are propelled by a swimming motion using their arms while lying or kneeling on a paddleboard or surfboard in the ocean or other body of water. Paddleboarding is usually performed in the open ...

, where a person uses a large surfboard and paddle to surf on flat water or waves *

Parasailing Parasailing, also known as parascending, is an activity where individuals are harnessed to a modified parachute canopy that is designed to ascend into the air when towed behind a motor vehicle on land, or a recreational boat over water. Commerc ...

, where a person is towed behind a vehicle (usually a boat) while attached to a

parachute A parachute is a device designed to slow an object's descent through an atmosphere by creating Drag (physics), drag or aerodynamic Lift (force), lift. It is primarily used to safely support people exiting aircraft at height, but also serves va ...

* Picigin is a traditional Croatian ball game that is played on the beach. It is an amateur sport played in shallow water, consisting of players keeping a small ball from touching the water. *

Rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

is a recreational outdoor activities that use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water *

River trekking River climbing, river trekking, river tracing or mountain stream climbing is a form of hiking or outdoor adventure activity, a traditional sport in Japan and popular in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and, in some ways, similar to canyoning or canyoneerin ...

, a combination of trekking and climbing and sometimes swimming along the river *

Rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

, a sport that involves propelling a boat (racing shell) on water, using oars *

Sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

is the practice of navigating a sail-powered craft on water, ice, or land *

Sit-down hydrofoil The sit-down hydrofoil, first developed in the late 1980s, is a variation on water skiing, a popular water sport. When towed at speed, by a powerful boat or some other device, the board of the hydrofoil 'flies' above the water surface and generally ...

ing is riding on the water with a hydrofoil attached to a ski. *

Skimboarding Skimboarding or skimming is a boardsport in which a skimboard (much like a surfboard but smaller and without fins) is used to glide across the water's surface to meet an incoming breaking wave, and ride it back to shore. There are currently 3 U ...

is a sport where people use a wooden board to slide fast on water. *

Stone skipping Stone skipping and stone skimming are the arts of throwing a flat Rock (geology), stone across water in such a way (usually Sidearm (baseball), sidearm) that it bounces off the surface. "Skipping" counts the number of bounces; "skimming" measur ...

, is a sport where people compete for the number of times and length that they can skip a stone on the water's surface. *

Surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suita ...

, a sport where an individual uses a board to stand up and ride on the face of a wave. *

Wakeboarding Wakeboarding is a water sport in which the rider, standing on a wakeboard (a board with foot bindings), is towed behind a motorboat across its wake and especially up off the crest in order to perform aerial maneuvers. A hallmark of wakeboarding ...

, a sport where an individual is attached to a board via bindings and then holds a handle to be towed across the water while riding sideways. *

Wakeskating Wakeskating is a water sport and an adaptation of wakeboarding that employs a similar design of board manufactured from maple or fibreglass. Unlike wakeboarding, the rider is not bound to the board in any way, similar to the skateboard, from which ...

, a sport where the rider stands on a board and is towed across the water performing maneuvers similar to those seen in skateboarding. *

Wakesurfing Wakesurfing is a water sport in which a person surfs the wake that is created by the boat. Wakesurfers ride without rope, they use it only to be pulled by the boat from the water. After getting up on the wake, typically by use of a tow rope, t ...

, a sport where the individual surfs on the wake created by a boat without holding onto the handle. *

Water skiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on one or two skis. The sport requires sufficien ...

, a sport where an individual holds onto a rope and handle while being towed across the water while riding one or two water skis. *

White water rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

, rafting on various classes of river

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep stream gradient, gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Flow, gradient, constriction, and obstacles are four factors that are needed for a rapid t ...

Windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

, is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. *

Windfoiling Windfoiling (or foil windsurfing) is a surface water sport that is the hydrofoiling evolution of windsurfing, as well as typical sailing boats and sailing hydrofoils. It uses similar equipment to windsurfing with a normal or slightly evolved rig ...

, is the hydrofoiling variant of windsurfing. It uses a hydrofoil that lifts the board above the water. *

Wing foiling Wing foiling or wing surfing or winging is a wind propelled water sport that developed from kitesurfing, windsurfing and surfing. The sailor, standing on a board, holds directly onto a wing. It generates both upward force and horizontal force whi ...

is a sport where an individual holds a lightweight wing on a surfboard with a

hydrofoil A hydrofoil is a lifting surface, or foil, that operates in water. They are similar in appearance and purpose to aerofoils used by aeroplanes. Boats that use hydrofoil technology are also simply termed hydrofoils. As a hydrofoil craft gains sp ...

. *

Yachting Yachting is recreational boating activities using medium/large-sized boats or small ships collectively called yachts. Yachting is distinguished from other forms of boating mainly by the priority focus on comfort and luxury, the dependence on ma ...

is the use of recreational boats and ships called yachts, for

racing In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...

or cruising

In the water

* Aquajogging, is a cross-training and rehabilitation method using low-impact resistance training. It is a way to train without impacting joints. Participants wear a flotation device and move in a running motion in the deep end of a pool. Aside from a pool, the equipment can include a flotation belt and weights. * Artistic or synchronized swimming consists of swimmers performing a synchronized routine of elaborate moves in the water, accompanied by music. *

Diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

, the sport of jumping off

springboard A springboard or diving board is used for diving and is a board that is itself a spring, i.e. a linear flex-spring, of the cantilever type. Springboards are commonly fixed by a hinge at one end (so they can be flipped up when not in use), and ...

s or platforms into water *

Finswimming Finswimming is an underwater sport consisting of four techniques involving swimming with the use of fins either on the water's surface using a snorkel with either monofins or bifins or underwater with monofin either by holding one's breath or ...

is a sport similar to traditional swimming using fins, monofin, snorkel, and other specific devices *

Modern pentathlon The modern pentathlon is an Summer Olympics, Olympic multisport that consists of five events: fencing (one-touch épée followed by direct elimination), freestyle swimming, obstacle course racing, Laser pistol (sport), laser pistol shooting, and ...

includes épée

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

, pistol

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

, swimming, a

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes shows ar ...

course on horseback, and

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

* Rescue swimming is swimming to rescue other swimmers *

Swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

, including pool swimming and open water swimming * Synchronized diving, Two divers form a team and perform dives simultaneously. The dives are identical. *

Triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...

, a multi-sport event involving the completion of three continuous and sequential endurance events, usually a combination of swimming,

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

, and

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion by which humans and other animals move quickly on foot. Running is a gait with an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is in contrast to walkin ...

* Water aerobics is

aerobics Aerobics is a form of physical exercise that combines rhythmic aerobic exercise with stretching and strength training routines with the goal of improving all elements of fitness (Flexibility (anatomy), flexibility, Muscle, muscular strength, and ...

in the water. *

Water basketball Water basketball is a water sport, which mixes the rules of basketball and water polo, played in a swimming pool. Teams of five players each must shoot at the goal with a ball within a certain time after gaining possession. History In the Nethe ...

, mixes the rules of basketball and water polo, played in a swimming pool. Teams of five players must shoot at the goal with a ball within a specific time after gaining possession. *

Water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

is a sport of two teams played in the water with a ball. * Water volleyball

Under water

Recreational diving

Cave diving Cave-diving is underwater diving in water-filled caves. It may be done as an extreme sport, a way of exploring flooded caves for scientific investigation, or for the underwater search and recovery, search for and recovery of divers or, as in th ...

* Deep diving *

Freediving Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving, is a mode of underwater diving that relies on breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba gear. Besides the limits of breat ...

Ice diving Ice diving is a type of penetration diving where the dive takes place under ice. Because diving under ice places the diver in an overhead environment typically with only a single entry/exit point, it requires special procedures and equipmen ...

* Mermaiding *

Spearfishing Spearfishing is fishing using handheld elongated, sharp-pointed tools such as a spear, gig, or harpoon, to impale the fish in the body. It was one of the earliest fishing techniques used by mankind, and has been deployed in artisanal fishi ...

Underwater archaeology Underwater archaeology is archaeology practiced underwater. As with all other branches of archaeology, it evolved from its roots in pre-history and in the classical era to include sites from the historical and industrial eras. Its acceptance h ...

, particularly activity involving wreck diving * Underwater photography, including

underwater videography Underwater videography is the branch of electronic underwater photography concerned with capturing underwater moving images as a recreational diving, scientific, commercial, documentary, or filmmaking activity. Although technological changes sinc ...

, is

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

done underwater. Numerous contests worldwide are arranged every year.

Digital camera A digital camera, also called a digicam, is a camera that captures photographs in Digital data storage, digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film or film stock. Dig ...

s have revolutionized how many divers participate. *

Underwater videography Underwater videography is the branch of electronic underwater photography concerned with capturing underwater moving images as a recreational diving, scientific, commercial, documentary, or filmmaking activity. Although technological changes sinc ...

Underwater sports

* Aquathlon (underwater wrestling) *

, some events are practiced completely underwater *

Snorkeling Snorkeling (American and British English spelling differences#Doubled in British English, British and Commonwealth English spelling: snorkelling) is the practice of human swimming, swimming face down on or through a body of water while breathing ...

is the practice of swimming at the surface (typically of the

sea A sea is a large body of salt water. There are particular seas and the sea. The sea commonly refers to the ocean, the interconnected body of seawaters that spans most of Earth. Particular seas are either marginal seas, second-order section ...

) being equipped with a mask, fins, and a short tube called a snorkel. *

* Sport diving (sport) * Underwater football *

Underwater hockey Underwater hockey (UWH), also known as Octopush in the United Kingdom, is a globally played limited-contact sport in which two teams compete to manoeuvre a puck across the bottom of a swimming pool into the opposing team's goal by propelling ...

is a game played underwater which has some similarities to

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

. Two teams of players use short wooden curved sticks to move a heavy puck across the pool bottom to the opponents' goal. * Underwater ice hockey * Underwater orienteering *

Underwater photography (sport) Underwater photography is a scuba-based underwater sport governed by where teams of competitors using digital underwater camera systems all dive at the same saltwater ocean sites at the same time over a two-day period. The submitted digita ...

Underwater rugby Underwater Rugby (UWR) is an underwater team sport in which two teams compete to deliver a negatively buoyant ball into the opponents’ goal at the bottom of a swimming pool. It originated from physical fitness training programs in German d ...

is a game played underwater which has some similarities to

rugby football Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union or rugby league. Rugby football started at Rugby School in Rugby, Warwickshire, England, where the rules were first codified in 1845. Forms of football in which the ball ...

. Two teams try to score goals by sending a slightly negatively buoyant ball into the opponents' goal placed on the bottom of the pool. * Underwater target shooting

References