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Frozen Canals, Open Water: How the Low Countries Taught the World to Play

5 October 2026 5 min. reading time What Did the Flemish and Dutch Ever Do for Us?

Lace up a pair of skates, hoist a sail or watch a football team swap positions mid-attack, and you’re doing something the Low Countries had a hand in. Flat land, a long coastline and water everywhere, frozen in winter and liquid the rest of the year, gave the Dutch and Flemish an unusual playground, and they made full use of it. Not every claim they make is undisputed, and some of what they came up with stayed local. But a good deal of it travelled: to the court of Charles II, to the Olympic Games and, in one case, as far as Japan.

Christopher Joby

Christopher Joby

Visiting Professor at Adam Mickiewicz University and Associate Professor at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies

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