1. Kayaking
   Canoeing
2. Dragon Boat Racing
   Hydrofoiling

Dragon boat racing dates as far back as 2,500 years ago, in China. It wasn't just a sport; there were often ceremonial and religious aspects to the entire event, but these days most people around the world just focus on the team sport aspect of it.

1. Hydroflying
   Flowriding
2. Skimboarding
   Skurfing

Hyrdoflying requires you to stand on a Flyboard, which is connected by a massive hose to a water source. Pressurized water comes up through the hose and exits under your boots, which are strapped to the Flyboard, forcing you into the air. It's like a jetpack for your feet.

1. Wakeboarding
   Skimming
2. Surfing
   Jetskiing

Surfing is a stunningly old sport and likely has existed much longer than anyone realizes. It has roots in many cultures from Polynesian people in Tahiti, Samoa and Ancient Hawaii, as well as with Pre-Incan cultures in South America.

1. Picigin
   Aqua Aerobics
2. Snorkeling
   Synchronized Swimming

Synchronized swimming, also known as artistic swimming or water ballet, had its first recorded competition in Germany back in 1891. It holds the distinction of being both a sport and a kind of theater as many clubs had water tanks on stage to allow for performances.

1. Snorkeling
   Freediving
2. River Trekking
   Wakesurfing

Snorkeling is an extremely old activity with origins that have mostly been lost to history. Some evidence suggests it could date back a good 5,000 years, however. At that time people likely used hollow reeds as the snorkel so they could fish in shallow waters for things like shellfish and sponges.

1. Powerboating
   Hydrofoiling
2. Jet Skiing
   Water Polo

Jet Ski is actually a proper noun but, like Kleenex and Thermos, has been adopted as the generic term we use for all similar items whether they're that actual brand or not. Technically these crafts are all called "personal watercraft," but have you ever heard anyone say that?

1. Underwater Hockey
   Water Polo
2. Pentathlon
   Skurfing

Water polo traces its origins to Scotland and the rules were set out by a man named William Wilson. Even though it started out as water rugby, the name "polo" can be attributed to the British pronunciation of the kind of ball that was used, called a "pulu" in the Balti language.

1. Kitesurfing
   Bodyboarding
2. Parasailing
   Windsurfing

Windsurfing is a fairly new sport as watersports go and it comes from the unlikely birthplace of Pennsylvania. A man named Newman Darby is generally credited with inventing the sport but he didn't file a patent on the board design.

1. Bodyboarding
   Flyboarding
2. Hydrofoiling
   Paddleboarding

Bodyboarding is sometimes called "Boogieboarding" thanks to the advent of a brand of bodyboards that are known as "Boogie Boards." That's just a brand name, however, and technically speaking Boogie Boards are just bodyboards.

1. Snorkeling
   Spearfishing
2. Mermaiding
   Cave Diving

Mermaiding pushes the limits of what you might call a sport. Essentially this is just swimming except you need to get into a full-tail mermaid costume to do it. It's generally just done as part of a performance for an audience but, you know, if you want to do it recreationally, go ahead.

1. Freediving
   Wakeboarding
2. Triathlon
   Paddleboarding

Wakeboarding is a bit like surfing but participants are towed by a line behind a boat and instead of surfing natural waves they surf the wake created by the boat. Special boats are used for professional wakeboarding because they create a much larger wake than normal.

1. Water Aerobics
   Canoe Polo
2. Triathlon
   Picigin

Triathlon is three sports combined together: running, cycling and swimming. Obviously, the idea of someone doing three different sports can't really be said to have started at one specific time in history but the triathlon as a competition in three parts probably began in France, where it was called "les trois sports" or "the three sports."

1. Kitesurfing
   Parasailing
2. Windsurfing
   Flyboarding

Kiteboarding, sometimes called kitesurfing, is the combination of a surfboard and a kite to allow the wind to pull you around. Because of the simplicity of the basic physics behind it, you can actually do pretty much the same thing over land, ice, or snow as well.

1. Finswimming
   Scuba Diving
2. Synchronized diving
   Freediving

Freediving is more of an endurance sport than anything else. Participants don't use breathing apparatus like you would for scuba diving. Instead, you just hold your breath for as long and as deep as you possibly can. Some world record holders have held their breath for over 11 minutes.

1. White Water Rafting
   River Trekking
2. Dragon Boat Racing
   Kayaking

White water rafting is often considered a fairly dangerous extreme sport, a reputation it doesn't entirely deserve. Thanks to increased safety precautions and general education about how rafting works, it's a fairly safe sport for most participants. As with many water-based activities though, there are some dangers.

1. Aqua Aerobics
   Cliff Diving
2. Flowriding
   Skurfing

Cliff diving is a fairly simple sport as far as sports go; it's just jumping off a cliff into the water. The only real limitation to the sport working is having a cliff nearby that you can safely jump off of.

1. Water Polo
   Picigin
2. Fishing
   Mermaiding

Fishing is about as old as humanity itself, so good luck trying to trace its origins to any one place. That said, as a recreational sport, some of the earliest references to it date all the way back to the late 1400s.

1. Rowing
   Kayaking
2. Water Polo
   Cave Diving

Rowing as a sport seems to have existed about as long as there have been boats that needed oars. The Pharoah Amenhotep II's funerary inscription mentioned that he was an accomplished rower in life, and that was written back in 1430 BC.

1. Canoeing
   Sea Dooing
2. Sailing
   Kayaking

Sailing has long been a part of human history and is arguably one of the greatest innovations of all time. It allowed ancient people to travel and colonize new lands. When it split from a method of travel and fishing to something recreational is anyone's guess.

1. Paragliding
   Wakeboading
2. Freediving
   Skimboarding

Unlike with surfing, in which a rider paddles offshore and rides a wave back in, a skimboarder begins onshore and glides out on the water's surface to meet an incoming wave before riding it back in. Skimboards are shaped like surfboards, but they are smaller and without fins.

1. Hydrofoiling
   Wakeskating
2. Paddleboarding
   Wind Surfing

Paddleboarding is a sport that involves sitting, kneeling, or laying down on a large surfboard and using your hands or an oar to paddle through the water. Some paddleboards include a chair, but the most popular version is the stand-up paddleboard, in which the paddler stands up or kneels.

1. Powerboating
   Kayaking
2. Yachting
   White Water Rafting

Kayaking as a sport was popularized by Europeans in the 1800s, but the actual kayak boat they used was invented by the Inuit people thousands of years ago. Traditional kayaks were made of wood or bone with animal's skin stretched over it.

1. Flyboarding
   Powerboating
2. Regatta
   Outrigger Racing

Powerboating, specifically offshore powerboating, dates back to a race that took place between England and France in 1904. Modern boats are now able to reach incredible speeds of up to 155 mph.

1. Picigin
   Bodyboarding
2. Flowboarding
   Wakeball

Picigin is a Croatian game that was invented by Croatian students who wanted to play water polo but only had access to shallow water. In picigin, the object is to prevent the ball from hitting the water.

1. Stand Up Paddleboarding
   Kayaking
2. Flyboarding
   Canoeing

Canoeing was first shown as a demonstration sport at the Paris Olympics in 1924. There are several different ways to canoe competitively including canoe polo, canoe sprinting, canoe slalom and canoe marathons.

1. Ice fishing
   Spearfishing
2. Snorkeling
   Trawl Fishing

Spearfishing is the most ancient form of fishing in the world and probably is older than civilization itself. There are Biblical references to spearfishing and many ancient statues and artworks depict the practice.

1. Aquathlon
   Wakeskating
2. Flowriding
   River Trekking

Aquathlon started in the USSR in the 1980s. Participants wear masks and fins and wrestle underwater. After some years the sport gained enough popularity that it's played in nearly a dozen countries throughout Europe.

1. Skurfing
   Water Skiing
2. Parasailing
   Yachting

Parasailing involves being towed behind a boat while suspended from a parasail wing. Due to a lack of regulation, the sport can be very dangerous and a number of people have died over the years in accidents.

1. Snorkeling
   Freediving
2. Synchronized Diving
   Scuba Diving

Scuba stands for "self-contained underwater breathing apparatus." The idea was experimented with in the late 1700s and by the1820s early autonomous diving gear was being used in France and England with limited success.

1. Barefoot Skiing
   Parasailing
2. Skurfing
   Wakeskating

Barefoot skiing or barefooting is like water skiing but without the actual skis. The sport is said to have originated in 1947 in Florida.

1. Underwater Football
   Water Polo
2. Underwater Hockey
   Aquathlon

Underwater hockey dates back to 1954 when it was invented so that members of a sub-aqua club would have something to do during colder months when outside dive activities were not an option.

1. Deep Diving
   Spearfishing
2. Cage Diving
   Freediving

Cage diving is considered an extreme sport even though it's not all that physically demanding. Psychologically it's pretty intense since you're required to lock yourself in a cage underwater while sharks potentially attack it. Oceanographer Jacques Cousteau invented the shark cage in the 1950s.

1. Cave Swimming
   Ice Swimming
2. Wakeskating
   Underwater Orienteering

Ice swimming or winter swimming is exactly what it sounds like; you go swimming in frozen waters. It's not as dangerous as it sounds but you do run the risk of a serious case of hypothermia if you don't take proper precautions.

1. Sit-Down Hydrofoiling
   Flowriding
2. Aquathlon
   Boogie Boarding

A sit-down hydrofoil is essentially a small ski that you sit on with a long foil extending beneath it. When pulled behind a boat, the seat is elevated above the water while the foil remains below, allowing for less resistance than traditional skiing.

1. Hydrofoiling
   Modern Pentathlon
2. Canoe Slalom
   Stand Up Paddleboarding

Stand up paddleboarding is what happens when you take a surfboard and a kayak paddle and head out to sea. Unlike traditional paddleboarding, the point is to stand up and paddle yourself wherever you want to go.

1. Swimming
   Snorkeling
2. Diving
   Aqua Aerobics

Swimming is probably the single oldest watersport in existence and you could never hope to trace its true origins. That said, as a competitive sport, it was actually featured in the very first modern Olympics back in 1896.

1. Skurfing
   Zorbing
2. Tubing
   Flowboarding

Tubing can take one of two forms for the most part. You can just sit in the inner tube and float around like driftwood or you can use it like a water ski and get dragged behind a boat. Time Magazine said it was invented by Princess Chumbhot in the mid-1900s, but there are print ads that show people doing it as early as 1916.

1. Aquajogging
   Artistic Swimming
2. River Trekking
   Diving

Although diving has been around as long as swimming, diving as a competitive sport began in England in the 1880s.

1. Mermaiding
   Finswimming
2. Spearfishing
   Scuba Diving

Finswimming, as the name suggests, is swimming while wearing fins. Fins, like the kind you might wear when scuba diving, were invented in the 1930s, however, in the 1970s, the monofin was created, which is a single, wide fin you wear on both feet at the same time. The resulting boost in performance allowed swimmers to smash all previous records.

1. Triathlon
   Aqua Aerobics
2. Freediving
   Aquajogging

Aquajogging involves basically running in place while you float in a pool. Often, weights can be added to the jogger's ankles while a floatation device ensures that you don't sink, allowing for some low-impact resistance training and aerobic weight loss exercise.