The Olympic Games, held in Melbourne was the club's high point to date with Bill Jones (ECC)and Tom Ohman (FCC) placed 5th – 1000m and 7th - 10,000m with Green and Brown's bronze medal in the 10,000m K2. These results were considered outstanding by all observers, as club members had not previously competed internationally. They also beat the highly regarded Canadian and USA paddlers comfortably. 

At the Melbourne Olympics in 1956, the Soviet handling of the Hungarian uprising led to a boycott by Spain, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. At the Olympic Village, the Hungarian delegation tore down the Communist Hungarian flag and raised the flag of Free Hungary in its place. A confrontation between Soviet and Hungarian teams occurred in the semi-final match of the water polo tournament on 6 December. The match was extremely violent, and was halted in the final minute to quell fighting among spectators. This match, now known as the "blood in the water match", became the subject of several films. The Hungarian team won the game 4–0 and later was awarded the Olympic gold medal. 

Hungarian Olympian canoeist Zoli Szigeti defected, along with a number of other team-mates, after the 1956 Melbourne Olympics. He later joined FCC

The coming of the Olympics largely responsible for the arrival of "kayaks" to Australian clubs. Previously, all the racing was in canoes.