History 
The Carib Indians of the Caribbean Islands and the native people of North America built the first canoe. The word canoe was first spelled "kenu" which meant dugout. They used birch, elm, or even cedar trees to build these canoes. They used these boats to travel along the Caribbean islands, which was their homeland.
John MacGregor established canoeing as a recreational sport. In 1845, he designed a type of canoe which had a deck and had a mast and sail as well as paddles. In 1866 MacGregor founded the Canoe Club, which became the Royal Canoe Club in 1873. Competitive canoeing began with the club's first regatta in 1867.
Four years later (in 1871), the New York Canoe Club was formed and was quickly followed by many other organizations on the East Coast. The American Canoe Association was created in 1880, and the Canadian Canoe Association followed ten years later.
In 1924, canoeing was a demonstration sport at the Paris Olympics. The United States won all the kayak events, and Canada won all the canoeing events. Canoeing became an official Olympic sport in 1936.
The
Sport
In white-water slalom events, the canoe must pass through several gates, including some reverse gates that have to be passed while paddling backward. Penalty time is given for hitting one pole, both poles, or for missing a gate entirely. This penalty time is then added to the canoeist's time to determine the order of finish.
Olympic races
go by a code in which the initial letter is K for kayak or C for Canadian canoe
and the number refers to the number of paddlers. For example, C-1 means canoe
singles and K-2 means kayak pairs. There are two designs for a canoe.
One is the K-boat, also known as the kayak. It is a closed boat with a
double sided paddle. It is used to stop you from going down a waterfall,
or go through a stream at insane speeds. This boat is made mostly of kevlar.
The other boat is a C-boat, also known as the canoe. You
can only use a single paddle for this boat, but two people can fit in.
This boat uses wood and kevlar. It is used for traveling.
The race competitions to get to the Olympics are held on flat water with two lanes. The women run a 500 meter K1, K2, or K4. Men race in the 500 and 1000 meter K1, K2, K4, C1, and C2 (canoe).
There's no
standard distance for white-water races, since each course is laid out differently.
In the Olympics 
The sports
came into the Olympics in 1924 as a demonstration sport. Forty-eight years
later, the sport reached its white water slalom, one of the toughest places
to be. White water canoeing is very expensive, it costs over $4,000,000
just to have it in the Olympics.
Accomplished Athletes
Michal Martican
won a bronze and gold medal at the Olympics.
