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It's the only Olympic sport that gets you as wet as
swimming, and there aren't any attractive lifeguards to save you. It will be
just you and 460 cubic feet of water per second!
 Nope, none of this at the Olympics! ..via Seriously OMG
Its canoe slalom, and its making its sixth consecutive
Olympic Games appearance after a 20 year absence. The event doesn't always
garner a lot of attention, more than likely because most people have the
following in mind when they hear the word "canoe."
 ...via All Posters
But a more accurate depiction of canoe slalom is as such:
...via Zimbio
It's a sport of concentration, perseverance, and physical
strength. While it's called canoe slalom, it also encapsulates kayaks; The main
difference being canoes have a seated kneeled rider with a one-sided paddle, and kayaks have a kneeled seated rower with a two-sided paddle. No matter your vehicle, it's
about technique and using the advantages of your canoe or kayak to maintain the
maximum edge.
Real quick…
The athletes race individually on a course of whitewater
rapids, and in modern competitions these rapids are manmade courses consisting
of pumps and whitewater obstacles. Simply, the paddlers race through suspended
gates which are color coded. Green gates must be passed going downstream, while
red gates must be passed while paddling upstream.
Watch a
little French video about kayak slalom.
Times are kept, and if the gate is hit by any part of the
athlete or boat, a two second penalty is assessed.
50 second penalties are given for severe gate disruption, missing a gate
completely, or going through upside down. Olympic and other international
events will have athletes make two runs and add those times to determine who
qualifies for finals. After two more runs, the athlete with the best time is
the winner.
 ...via ICE Virtual Library
Considering the intensity of triathlons and meticulous rules
of sports like judo, whitewater slalom events are rather straight-forward.
The boats…
Both canoes and kayaks must be decked (covered hull), and
there are strict limits as to the size and weight of the boats as designated by
the International Canoe Federation (yes, that's a real thing.)
Kayaks must have a minimum length of 3.5 m, and a minimum
width of .6 m. Their minimum weight, when dry, must not be less than 9 kg.
There are two types of eligible canoes. For single-rower canoe events, the
canoe restrictions are 3.5 m long, .65 m wide, and weigh at least 10 kg. For
tandem-rower canoes, the minimum dimensions are 4.1 m long, .75 wide, and 15
kg.
Many canoes and kayaks are produced underweight, so rowers
may add ballasts to the boat center to meet requirements. The ICF even
regulates the radius of the boat ends: 2 cm horizontally, and 1 cm vertically.
Considering all whitewater kayaks and canoes weigh about
19.8 lbs. and 33 lbs., respectively, modern whitewater boats have come a long
way from the 65 lb. fiberglass boats of the 1960s. Kevlar was introduced as a
boat-building material in the '70s, and the rules of whitewater slalom have
always had to play catch-up with newer, sleeker designs. Today, most boats are
produced in layers of carbon fiber, Kevlar, fiberglass, and foam, which are
held together with epoxy and polyester resins. The result of this convoluted
construction? A kayak or canoe north of USD $2,000. Yup.
That's quite literally, "a boatload of money."
 ...via Visual Photos
The course…
The 2012 Olympics will hold their whitewater slalom events
at the Lee Valley White Water Center. It's a new venue, but since its opening
in December 2010 cheeky
Brits have been raving about its design. The Olympic course is 300 meters
long, with a 1.8% gradient. An accompanying pump station pushes 460 cubic feet
of water per second along the slalom course.
One of the major difficulties in planning a slalom course is
the fluid dynamics of the water, flowing at such a high rate and through tight
turns. Engineers initially built a 1/10 scale model of the Lee Valley White
Water Center.
 ...via ICE Virtual Library
Still, a newly-innovated modular design was necessary so the
course could be fine-tuned. This will also allow Olympic organizers to change
the course enough that the home-team limeys don't have a distinct advantage in
competition. Plastic obstacles imitate rocks, providing the turbulence for
whitewater conditions. These obstacles have a mobile, pegboard-like base plate
which allows for subtle changes in the course design. Rearranging the course is
as simple as shutting the pumps off, and taking a few hand tools to the slalom.
 ...via Ice Virtual Library
The gold medal goes to…
Me. Duh.
I just assembled another great article on the Olympics. And
you get silver for reading.
In seriousness, I think the 2012 Olympics will benefit
greatly from the resources and engineering the people of the England have
offered the world. I hope it actually pays off in a medal or two for them. In
whitewater slalom events, Great Britain ranks 27th all-time.
Resources
Visit Lee Valley - Lee Valley White Water Centre
London 2012 - Canoe Slalom; About
Wikipedia - Whitewater slalom; Canoeing and kayaking at the Summer Olympics
Yahoo! News - History of Olympic Canoe Slalom at the Summer Games
Telegraph UK -Lee Valley canoeing: a rapid lesson in being an Olympian
Institution of Civil Engineers: Delivering London 2012: the Lee Valley Whiterwater Centre
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Re: CR4 Olympic Coverage: Building Whitewater
