After nearly a century of false starts and experimentation in several different countries, canoe polo (also known as kayak polo) finally became a genuine international sport in 1987.
'Polo on the Sea' woodcut from 1875
The first notice of something that might be called canoe polo was a woodcut, "Polo on the Sea," that appeared in England's Punch magazine on October 2, 1875. Both men and women, on double-hulled boats, are using double-bladed paddles to try to gain control of a nondescript ball.
Another London publication, the Graphic, published an illustration captioned "Water Polo." This one showed players in wooden kayaks, some paddling and others dueling with their paddles. The ball is just barely visible as a dark blotch on the water.
Then canoe polo seems to have disappeared from public view for about 50 years. It was revived, or more likely re-invented, during the 1920s in Germany, where it was used to attract and train novice paddlers. The German Canoe Federation published the first rules for the sport, called "kanupolo," in 1926. They were probably based loosely on the rules of soccer and team handball. There were 11 players on a team, the game was made up of two 45-minute halves, and the playing field was 99 to 120 meters long by 50 to 90 meters wide, with goals 4 meters wide and 1.5 meters high.
By 1929, a similar sport had developed in France, but teams there ranged from just three to five players and the playing area was only 60 to 100 meters long. During the 1930s, Germany's kanupolo rules were revised considerably, scaling the sport down: The team was reduced to five players, the field to 60-90 meters long and 40-60 meters wide, the game to 30-minute halves. After World War II, another version of canoe polo arose in Australia, quite possibly as another independent invention. The Australians used two-player boats, with the bow paddler going for the ball while the stern paddler controlled the canoe.
Canoe polo action
All these forms of the sport were played outdoors, on lakes, ponds, and rivers. But, in 1966, Bert Keeble of England's National Schools Sailing Association designed a small wooden kayak to be used for teaching children how to paddle in indoor pools. A few years later, Alan Byde of the British Canoe Union build a similar kayak of glass-reinforced plastic, which was just coming into common use as a material for boat hulls. His design was called the Baths Advanced Trainer, or BAT--"bath" meaning a public swimming pool, in this instance.
The BAT led to a new, indoor form of canoe polo for adults as well as children. England's first national championships were held in 1971 and the indoor sport became fairly popular in both France and Australia by the end of the decade.
Besides the smaller, more maneuverable boat and the smaller playing area, the English version of canoe polo allowed a player to pick the ball up from the water and throw it into the goal for a score. However, most European countries, led by Germany, allowed a score only if the ball was struck by the paddle.
In the late 1980s, the International Canoe Federation (ICF) decided to codify rules and, by and large, favored England's version. The sport was demonstrated at the 1987 world sprint championships in Duisburg, Germany.
A final version of the ICF rules was published in 1990. It called for a playing area 30 meters long and 20 meters wide and two 10-minute halves. Scoring on a throw was permitted.
The first world championships were held at Sheffield, England, in 1994, and they've been held biennially ever since. In 2005, canoe polo will be added to the World Games.
Canoe polo hasn't really caught on in North America. There are only about 20 clubs in the United States. At the 2004 world championships, the U. S. men's and women's teams were both eliminated in the first round of play.
