By Bridget Dolan
NEWARK — Under fluorescent lights, in the headache-inducing, chlorine-saturated air of the Rawstrom Natatorium, a naval battle was engaged last Sunday afternoon.
A whistle blew, shouts echoed off the walls and all friendship was lost. There were only enemies, in canoes that must be filled and sunk using buckets of water in the university’s epic spring semester “Battleship” tournament.
“I thought it seemed really fun … like [I] just wanna go in the pool and sink other people,” Nicholas Woo, a junior finance major, said.
The rules of engagement are simple. Intramural battleship, also known as canoe battleship, is played in a swimming pool in canoes, each with two or three players. Two of the team have buckets, which can be used to throw water into an opponent’s ship in order to sink it, or by bailing their own boat out to keep it afloat. A third player, if present, is given a foam paddle board that can be used to either propel the canoe or act as a shield from an opponent’s onslaught.
Swimming referees keep the canoes from drifting too far apart and help remove capsized or sunken boats from the pool. While most were sunk by opponent attacks, others capsized as a result of enthusiastic battle that tipped the boat too far.
The tournament had three time slots participants: 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Each time slot functioned as its own miniature tournament — in total, the tournament had three winning teams that were determined after a couple rounds of elimination among the fifty or so participants for each section, but the winners were not formally announced. The last canoe floating was cheered for before quickly ushered out of the pool to make room for the next team.
The bleachers overlooking the pool were sparsely populated, with about four to ten people total per time slot, cheering on their friends as they battled below.
Among the spectators was first time-watcher and freshman psychology major Kirsten Bayer, whose boyfriend, Eric Schwar, participated in the tournament. Asked what drew her to intramural battleship, Bayer said, “I think it’s going to be funny.”
It was. Teams frantically bailed out their canoes and, occasionally, accidentally floated away, almost crossing the floating lane divider that created the border of the “playing field.” About half of the teams that lost were the result of capsized canoes, going down with either a laugh or a scream as they were dumped overboard.
Others slowly saw their waterline descend until the pool water crept in over the gunnel and brought their canoe to the bottom of the pool. Only one canoe had the luck to stay afloat in each round, and even then, the winner often capsized or sunk a mere minute after victory.
Unlike some intramural sports, registration for the tournament was free, and, as a bonus, tournament-goers were given free t-shirts for participating. However, those inducements weren’t the only draw.
It’s been a dream of Judd Schiavi’s for years. “I remember coming here freshman year, and seeing all the activities … this being one of them, and it was so unique that I kinda wanted to like — I wanted to do it one day, I just never thought I would get a team for it,” Schiavi said.
The junior sociology major participated in the tournament with other Blue Hen Ambassadors from the Admissions Office. Alongside Schiavi was Woo, who liked the idea of getting into the pool and splashing water at other teams and was responsible for enlisting Schiavi. A third team member, Beckey Carlson-Lee, was responsible for the paddle board. Despite not making it to the final round of the tournament, they enjoyed themselves.
“It was really tiring, and I had a lot of fun,” Woo said.
The teams are not identifiable to those not playing, and the rounds are mostly aquatic battle-royales of at least three canoes — four for larger groups — until, eventually, it comes down to the last two afloat.
The winning strategy, it seemed, was to bail out your canoe into your opponent’s.
“It looks fun, why not?” Schiavi said.