What sports at the Olympic Games involve water? There are many more than you think. Some of these may be a bit of a stretch to say they are water sports, but at least there is some water involved.

synchronized swimmers synchronized performance

The obvious ones in the pool

On the open water

On a water craft

And some more obscure ones:

  • Steeplechase — there's a water jump
  • Modern pentathlon — swimming is one of the five events.
  • Equestrian eventing — horses do a water jump during the eventing event.
  • Golf — there is most likely a water hazard on one of the holes, and someone is bound to hit the ball in it.

Discontinued Watersports

  • Motorboating — was an official sport in 1908 (and a demonstration sport in 1900). The sport involved racing motorboats around a course on the water.

Demonstration Watersports

  • Fishing — a fishing event (angling) was an unofficial event at the 1900 Olympic Games in Paris.
  • Fire Fighting — at the 1900 Games in Paris, teams were required to extinguish a fire and perform a rescue.
  • Lifesaving —at the 1900 Olympic Games there were rescue competitions on land ("sauvetage terre") and rescue competitions in water ("sauvetage eau").
  • Water Skiing — a demonstration sport at the 1972 Games in Munich.