Slalom canoeing is a competitive sport where the aim is to navigate a decked canoe or kayak through a course of gates on river rapids in the fastest time possible.

The gates are two hanging polls from a string across the river. There are usually 20 to 25 numbered gates in a course and they are coloured as either downstream (green) or upstream (red) indicating the direction they must be crossed.

Slalom courses usually take 100 to 200 seconds to navigate and each competitor has two runs. Either the best run or the sum of the two runs is taken for the final result.

If the competitor hits either pole of the gate a time penalty is awarded, usually 2 or 5 seconds depending on the division of competition. If the competitor misses a gate completely or goes through gates in the wrong order a 50 second penalty is given.

Slalom boats are low volume and have a thin profile to enable them to get underneath the gate poles. Their low volume sterns allow the boat to slice through the water on what is called a pivot turn. Typically, new racing boats cost between $1,200 and $2,500.