Water Sport Flips and Flops

Swimming. Surfing. Diving. These water sports are longtime favorites that don’t seem to be going anywhere any time soon. Of course, there are those sports throughout history that have proven themselves to be flops—either short-lived fads or occasional pastimes forgotten due to their impracticality.

In today’s blog, we’re taking a look at some of these forgotten flops. And who knows? Maybe we’ll see a comeback of one or two of them in the years ahead!

Plunging for distance

Today, we’re used to seeing fast-paced sports like swimming during the Summer Olympics—but the 1904 Games featured something with a little less movement. In 1904, plunging for distance was the name of the game, a sport that involved participants plunging into the water and testing how far they could get in one minute. The only catch? There could be no movement of their arms or legs! It helped if plungers were heavier, but the sport also required a successful knowledge of timing and force of hitting the water. While it was popular enough to be featured at the Olympics, the apparent dullness of the no-movement sport contributed to its end at the world level.

Skurfing

Skurfing is not so much a failed sport as it is one that hasn’t yet caught on. It combines water skiing and surfing, requiring participants to be towed behind a boat while riding a surf-style board. Sound familiar? Its closeness to the sport of wakeboarding might be the reason for its lack of widespread popularity—while niche tournaments happen across the country, you can’t walk into a sports store and pick up a “skurf board,” for example.

Olympic motorboat races

The love of being on the water on your very own motor or powerboat is not going anywhere—but the practice of motorboat races at the Olympics met its end in 1908, when the only medals given were gold—because most participants could not even finish the race! The poor water conditions were due to bad English weather, but they nevertheless put an end to repeat exhibitions at future games.

These sports may seem silly, but they weren’t always seen that way! What about the water sports of today? Do you think more modern hits like wake surfing are here to stay, or are they destined to meet the same forgotten fate? Let us know what you think below!