Over 20 teams competed for the Topper Cup and the title of 2014 Homecoming champion, but only one team prevailed: the St. Edward’s club swimming team, also known as The Aquagods.

This year’s events consisted of a cardboard rigatta challenge, board painting, a skit/improv challenge, dodgeball and Fifa tournaments and  a food drive. 

The first event of the week did not go as planned. The team’s cardboard boat sank during the rigatta challenge, but the team was able to pull through during the board painting challenge, coming in first and improving their chances of winning the Topper Cup. 

Team member Yvette Cannata created the winning design, while the rest of the team helped make the design come to life on the board. But even after this win, they were still behind in the overall standings.

Finally, the food drive weigh-in put the Aquagods over the top and they won the cup. The cup will be engraved with their team name and placed on display in the Ragsdale Center.

Aside from battling in Homecoming events, the Aquagods compete in swim competitions. Kelley put together a league of five other club swim teams in the area with whom they compete with. The team has a championship on April 12. Junior Michael Cimino said the team has been practicing very hard this season and is prepared to win.

The club team is co-ed and there is a range in the levels of swimmers. Practices are usually very informal. While studying does come first, people are encouraged to come to practice at least three times a week.

“Practices are very fun. We play loud music and swim for very long periods of time. Long sets, usually we swim at least two miles,” Cimino said.

What is their goal for next year’s Homecoming? They said they want to win the cardboard regatta since it is the only water-based challenge.

“We are already planning ahead of time so that we can at least hopefully win design, and at least make it really fun,” Cimino said. “Even if we don’t win the race, we want it to be the most fun we’ve ever had with it.”

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