It can be fast and furious, or laidback and relaxed – canoeing is a very versatile and fun leisure pursuit. But how much do you know about this popular water sport?

Canoeing is part of the Olympic games. The two forms included are Sprint Canoeing and Slalom Canoeing.

Sprint Canoeing, or racing, involves kayaks or canoes racing distances from 200m to 2000m across flat water.

Slalom Canoeing is where canoeists have to face a descent through the rapids of a whitewater course. As in Slalom skiing, they also have to negotiate their way through various poles positioned about 1m apart.

Jutta Kaiser currently holds the title of World Champion in Freestyle Canoeing.

Michigan in American has over 1500 miles of rivers and streams, making it a perfect place to practice canoeing.

The bow is the term used to describe the front part of a canoe, the stern is the very back end and the beam refers to the widest part.

The buoyancy chamber is an enclosed part of a canoe, generally situated at the bow and the stern, which is filled with a buoyant material such as foam.

As well as canoes for people paddling on their own, tandem canoes exist for two people.

The length of a canoe varies, depending on its size and what type of canoeing it will be used for. Smaller canoes that are ideal for whitewater canoeing can be less than 10 feet long, whilst extra long canoes for several people can be 23 feet long. Tandem canoes range from 15 to 18 feet long.

Canoeists are always recommended to canoe with at least two crafts or three people. Although it’s tempting to go on your own, it’s better to have back-up for safety purposes.

The proper terms for the parts of a paddle are a grip (the top tip of the paddle that you hold), the shaft (the long handle) and the blade (the part that does the most work in the water).

The canoeist Verlen Kruger also builds his own canoes. It takes him 12 to 15 years to fully design a canoe, yet only 12 weeks to build it.

By Rachel Newcombe