Water Sports Belfast

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There are a large number of sports that involve water, whether you are in the water, out of the water, or on the water. Read the following articles to learn about water sports randing from swimming to sailing.

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Occupational Swimming Belfast

Swimming more recently has become a professional sport as well. Companies such as Speedo and TYR Sports Inc. sponsor swimmers just as Nike might sign contracts with basketball players. Cash awards are also given at many of the major competitions for breaking records.

Swimming for Exercise Belfast

Resistance swimming is one form of swimming exercise. It is done either for training purposes, to hold the swimmer in place for stroke analysis, or to enable one to swim in a confined space for either athletic or therapeutic reasons.

Health Risks of Swimming Belfast

Swimming is considered a sport with a low risk of injury. Nevertheless there are some health risks with swimming. Most lethal risks in swimming are due to the inability to swim. It is recommended to swim in an area supervised by lifeguards and to pay attention to the water conditions.

Bodyboarding Belfast

The vast majority of bodyboarders usually wear swimfins on both feet to aid in paddling out and taking off. Bodyboarding is arguably the earliest form of surfing, and is ultimately derived from the ancient Hawaiian Paipo board, which was ridden lying down. The modern invention of the bodyboard is credited to Tom Morey, who sold very basic bodyboards, (known then as Boogie Boards) by mail order.

Canoe Design & Construction Belfast

Depending on the intended use of a canoe, the various kinds have different advantages. For example, a canvas canoe is more fragile than an aluminium canoe, and thus less suitable for use in rough water; but it is quieter, and so better for observing wildlife.

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Basic Sailing Techniques Belfast

When turning a sailing boat, the direction relative to the wind is as important as the direction overall. Thus all turns can be described by one of the following terms. Read on to learn.

Boats Belfast

Racing boats (usually called "shells") are long and narrow in order to reduce drag to a minimum. This makes them unstable and liable to tip. Being able to balance, or "set" the boat while putting maximum effort into the oars is therefore an essential skill of rowing.

Bodyboarding Belfast

Canoe Design & Construction Belfast

Canoe Polo Belfast

Canoe polo (called kayak polo in some countries) is a competitive ball sport played on water, in a defined "field", between two teams of 5 players, each in a kayak. The object of the game is to get the ball into the opponent's goal (i.e. to score goals), the team scoring the most goals in a set time being the winner.

Competitive Swimming Belfast

Competitive swimming is swimming with the goal to maximise performance, usually the speed of swimming. It became popular in the 19th century, and is an event at the Summer Olympic Games.

Competitive Water Skiing Belfast

Slalom most resembles recreational water skiing. Six buoys are set up, three on each side of a centre line, along which the boat travels. There are also two entrance gate and two exit gate buoys.

Dive Scoring Belfast

Each dive performed has an inherent "Degree of Difficulty." This is a numerical value in the range of about 1.0 to about 4.0 that is calculated based on an agreed-upon formula. The total score for an individual dive is determined by adding three judges' scores (the median three scores) and multiplying this sum by the degree of difficulty.

Diving: Feet First or Hands First? Belfast

A hands first dive can result in more streamlined entry (and consequently, a less painful one). Jumping in and landing hands-first also tends to avoid the entry of water up the nose. A feet first entry is less streamlined, and will often require the diver to hold their nose.

Health Risks of Swimming Belfast

Kayaking Belfast

The top of a kayak is covered with a deck; the paddler sits in a hole in the cockpit (which may be sealed off with a spray skirt) with their feet forward. Kayaks are typically propelled with a double-ended paddle.

Kite Surfing Belfast

Kite surfing, also known as kitesurfing and kiteboarding, and sometimes as flysurfing in Europe, involves using a power kite to pull a small surfboard (on water), a wheeled board on land, or a snowboard over snow.

Learning to Dive into Water Belfast

For safety reasons, diving should always be done into deep water and without goggles, which can damage the eyes by way of sudden increase in pressure. When learning to dive, it is best to begin by entering some water where the surface is close to or level with the edge.

Occupational Swimming Belfast

Paddle Strokes in Canoeing Belfast

A less elegant but more effective stroke which is used in the stern is the Superior stroke, more commonly referred to as the goon or rudder stroke. Unlike the J-stroke in which the side of the paddle pushing against the water during the stroke (the power face) is the side which is used to straighten the canoe, this stroke uses the opposite face of the paddle to make the steering motion.

Paddling Roles in Outrigger Canoe Racing Belfast

During an outrigger race the paddlers sit in line, facing toward the prow of the canoe (that is, forward, in the direction of travel, unlike rowing). The steerer (or steersman) sits at the very back of the canoe and is primarily responsible for steering.

Rafting Belfast

Rafting is a recreational activity, utilising a raft to navigate a river or other body of water. Whitewater rafting can be a dangerous activity if the proper precautions are not taken.

Recreational Swimming Belfast

The most common reason for swimming is probably recreation, where the swimmer enters the water merely for enjoyment. Swimming pools are popular venues for recreational swimming, as are beaches, lakes, swimming holes, streams, rivers, and sometimes canals.

Rescue Swimming Belfast

Rescue Swimming includes the skills that are learned to enable an individual attempt a rescue when a swimmer is in difficulty. These are made up of a combination of communication skills, specific 'rescue' swimming strokes and release and evade techniques for self preservation should the rescue go wrong.

Rowing Belfast

In the context of sports, rowing or sculling is a system of competition that refines the rowing of boats into a specialised discipline. It is a speed sport in narrow boats, where the athlete sits on a sliding seat above the water level and faces backwards, using oars to move the boat.

Sailing Hulls & Hull Shapes Belfast

Sailing boats can have one, two, or three hulls. Boats with one hull are known as monohulls, while those with two or more are known as multihulls. Multihulls can be further subdivided into catamarans (two hulls), and trimarans (three hulls).

Sailing Safety Belfast

Sailing is intrinsically dangerous, since water is not our natural element. All sailors therefore should take precautions, and when engaged in publicly organised activities they must take certain precautions, as detailed by the authority which regulates the training or racing.

Sails Belfast

A modern windsurfing sail is made of monofilm (clear PVC film), dacron (woven polyester) and mylar. Sensitive parts are reinforced with kevlar mesh.

Skin on Frame Kayaks Belfast

Often an umbrella term for several types of kayaks, Skin on Frame boats are primarily considered a more traditional boat in design, materials, construction, and technique. They are often the lightest kayaks, and traditionally made of drift wood pegged and or lashed together with seal skin stretched over it, as those were the easiest materials to source in the arctic regions.

Steering a Canoe Belfast

The paddling action of two paddlers will tend to turn the canoe toward the opposite side that on which the sternman is paddling. Thus, steering is particularly important, particularly because canoes have flat-bottomed hulls and are very responsive to turning actions.

Surf Lifesaver Rescue Services Belfast

Surf lifesaving exists in many countries and is still predominantly a volunteer movement. The surf lifesaving movement in Australia is now open to both sexes, and approximately 40% of members are women.

Surfing Belfast

Surfing (Hawaiian: he'enalu, "wave-sliding") is a very popular recreational activity and sport in which individuals are propelled across the water by the force of waves, while standing on, predominantly, GRP (fibreglass) boards. Wooden and foam boards ("foamies") are also used.

Swimming for Exercise Belfast

Swimming Technique Belfast

With practice, technique can convert a slow or average swimmer to at least a moderately fast swimmer. Since speed converts directly into distance, the same techniques that improve speed also aid one to move farther with the same effort.

The Effect of Height on the Dive Belfast

Speaking of diving height, there is a limit to how high one can jump from and survive, regardless of water depth. For example, the Golden Gate Bridge is 220feet (66m) high and overlooks water deep enough for a diver not to hit the bottom. However, the result of such a dive would be (almost) certain death.

The Physics of Sailing Belfast

The force of the wind is used to create motion by using one or more sails. When sailing downwind (away from the wind source) the vessel's motion is derived from the simple force of the wind pushing the sail. When sailing upwind (towards the wind source) the movement of air over the sails acts in the same way as air moving over an aircraft's wing.

Tubing Belfast

Tubing, also known as inner tubing, is the recreational activity of riding an inner tube, either on water or on snow. When on water, the tube may be conveyed by the current of a river or pulled behind a motorboat or personal watercraft, resulting in a more high-speed experience.

Understanding Waves Belfast

Surfing conditions at a particular location or "break" that is known for surfing are almost never ideal all the time. Wind blown consistently over a large area of fetch (open water), generates waves. These waves use a drafting effect similar to racecars and cyclists to travel vast distances efficiently.

Wakeboarding Belfast

Wakeboarding is a relatively new boardsport, created from a combination of water skiing, snow boarding and surfing techniques. As in water skiing, the rider is towed behind a boat, or a cable skiing setup, but typically at slower speeds (18 - 24mph).

Water Skiing Belfast

Water skiing is a sport and recreational activity invented in Lake City, Minnesota in 1922 by Ralph Samuelson and is popular in many countries around the world where appropriate conditions exist - an expanse of water unaffected by wave motion.

Wind Surfing Boards Belfast

Boards used to be classified into shortboards and longboards. Longboards are usually longer than 3 metres, have a retractable daggerboard, and are optimised for slower winds. Shortboards are less than 3 metres long and are designed for planing conditions.

Windsurfing Belfast

Windsurfing (also called boardsailing) is a sport involving travel over water on a small 2-4.7 meter board powered by wind acting on a single sail, connected to the board via a flexible joint. The sport is a hybrid between sailing and surfing.