BY LIANA KATZ

In print | Published April 17, 2008

Last Sunday dawned grey and clouded. Underneath the trestle bridge in the Crum, students lowered themselves and their homemade boats into the icy creek. Carefully positioning their bodies atop their seaworthy contraptions, they prepared to chart a dangerous course down the not-so-raging Crum rapids. A crowd comprised of students, parents and administrators watched eagerly from the sandy banks. This wasn’t madness; this was 2008’s annual Crum Creek Crum Regatta.

Although the morning was cold and the creek even colder, the participants in the regatta were quick to get their crafts into the water. The team of Madeleine Abramowitz ’10 and Greg Albright ’10 suffered an early defeat as their boat, known as the SS Adderly and composed mostly of inner tubes, capsized before the race even began. One of their buoyant inner tubes subsequently burst, eliciting laughter from Albright, Abramowitz and the crowd.

Ultimately, five boats lined up at the start as Commodore Martin Warner, dressed in his Gilbert and Sullivan-inspired naval attire, announced the beginning of the race. The Albino Goldfish, captained by Eric Duchon ’08 and Benjamin Blonder ’08, took a clear lead. Following closely behind was the Mighty Duct, with Ben Plotkin-Swing ’09 and Eric Holzhauer ’10 paddling furiously while Bevan Gerber-Siff ’10 pushed from behind. Give Peas a Chance fell early in the race, dunking its creators Melissa Cruz ’10 and Frances Taschuk ’10 into the water. “We gave Peas its chance. That was actually a record [for] how long we could stay in it,” Cruz said.

Fighting furiously behind the Albino Goldfish and the Mighty Duct were LC-4 and SS Second South. “It didn’t take very long [to make], since our boat was made of an air mattress, storage containers and duct tape. I think we spent two nights working on it,” Second South crew member Alexandra Israel ’11 said. LC-4 and Second South had their moment to push ahead when the Albino Goldfish and the Mighty Duct collided and swirled to a halt. But, in the end, the Mighty Duct untangled itself and crossed the finish line before the other three frontrunners.

At the end of the race, shivering participants and spectators alike were treated to hot chocolate as Commodore Warner announced the prizes. “I am very proud to be a part of the Crum Regatta, which is the flagship [event] of Family Weekend,” Warner said. The Mighty Duct took the Leif Erikson prize of $100 for completing the race first. “Our victory was especially sweet,” Gerber-Siff said. Give Peas a Chance won the Post-Modern Deconstruction award for its enthusiastic effort. LC-4 took the Queen Elizabeth award, while the SS Second South earned the Christopher Columbus prize and the Albino Goldfish was granted the Crum Creek Cruiser award. “It’s good, clean fun,” Warner said, looking at the crowd of students drenched in Crum Creek muck. Fun? Definitely. Clean? Not so much.

Disclosure Note: Alexandra Israel is a columnist for The Phoenix but had no role in the production of this article..

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