History

Whitewater slalom, which was originally modelled on ski slalom, began in Switzerland in 1932. Slalom canoeing began on flat water, but soon switched to white water rapids. World War Two set back development, especially from an Olympic point of view, but today both sprint and slalom are established Olympic disciplines. The sight  of skill, strength and courage pitted against powerful water makes slalom an exciting spectator sport both live and on TV. For the competitor there is the challenge, together with fantastic friendships, cooperation between national teams, and a closeness to the river and the environment.

The first Slalom World Championships were held in 1949 in Geneva. Since then there have been dramatic changes as folding and rigid canvas canoes have been replaced by composites and rules have been changed and simplified.

In 1992 canoe slalom returned to the Olympic Games, in the fantastic atmosphere under the burning sun of La Seu d´Urgell in the Spanish Pyrenees. Canoe slalom is now an established Olympic sport and made one of the great spectacles at London’s wonderful 2012 Games.

The introduction of the C1W event at an international level culminated in this event making its Olympic debut at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, sadly at the expense of the C2 event.

A further innovation has been the development of Kayak Cross, where 4 paddlers race head to head down a course tha includes upstream, downstream and a roll gate. This event made its Olympic debut in Paris in 2024

UK Success in Canoe Slalom

This is a sport in which Britain excels. Richard Fox was 5 times K1M World Champion. Lynn Simpson was K1W World Champion in 1995. Paul Ratcliffe held the K1M World Cup and won the silver medal at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. Campbell Walsh won the K1M silver medal and Helen Reeves the K1W bronze at Athens in 2004. David Florence won the C1M silver medal in Beijing in 2008. At London 2012, Tim Baillie and Etienne Stott took the C2 gold medal, only a fraction of a second ahead of David Florence and Richard Hounslow, who won silver. David Florence was C1M World Champion in 2013 and 2015. Florence and Hounslow won the C2 silver medal again at Rio in 2016, where Joe Clarke took the K1M gold medal.

In 2021 Mallory Franklin won silver at the Olympics in Tokyo, and at the 2023 World Championships in London Mallory Franklin won gold and Kimberley Woods silver. Joe Clarke took the K1M gold and the Men’s Kayak Cross gold, while Kimberley Woods took the Women’s Kayak Cross gold.

The Paris 2024 Olympic were Team GB’s most successful ever in the canoe slalom events were very successful which Adam Burgess taking C1M Silver and Kimberley Woods taking K1W Bronze. In the new Olypic discipline of Kayak Cross Joe Clake won Silver the men’s event and Kimberley Woods won Silver in the women’s event.