Hey . . . whatever floats your cardboard boat
High school students set sail across pool in crafts pieced together with duct tape and hope
It was sink or swim for dozens of Toronto high school students who took to the pool for a race Wednesday afternoon.
But forget about the backstroke or the breaststroke. Students from various schools were crossing Bishop Marrocco/ Thomas Merton Catholic Secondary School’s pool in boats.
And not just any boats — boats made of cardboard.
Pieced together with duct tape and plenty of hope, the flimsy craft battled it out to be the fastest to travel one length of the pool — and then to be the boat carrying the most weight without sinking.
Some crews never made it to the finish line. Amid shrieks, they veered into the edges of the pool or found their boats taking on water and collapsing mere metres from the starting line.
But that wasn’t a problem for four Grade12 students from Notre Dame High School, who made it down the pool in less than 30 seconds. “We were going really fast while some of the other teams were going slowly,” recalled Miranda Manolakos, as she dried off afterward.
“I think this year we have done our best.”
Just minutes before, teammate Sarah Aloysius was a wreck, huddled in a corner of the pool area with her hands covering her eyes, body atremble with nervousness.
She was about to test the strength of the Dreadnaught 2.0 — their boat, with a slightly tweaked name borrowed from a warship.
With Manolakos already floating in it, Aloysius shakily got into the boat, hoping not to tip it or weigh it down too much.
“Getting in was one thing, but to maintain balance is hard,” she said.
The cardboard gave way after three girls piled into the contraption, but it was enough for them to eke out enough points to take the lead and win their fifth competition. Wednesday’s contest awarded overall first, second and third placements to teams who scored the highest in the speed, weight and construction categories.
Manolakos and Aloysius faced fierce competition from a group of petite girls attending Madonna Catholic Secondary School.
The four stuffed themselves inside their boat and floated steadily for minutes — the envy of plenty of their competitors.
Wanting to test the boat’s strength even more, they managed to convince their teacher, Mary Lee, to kick off her shoes and attempt to get in.
“I knew I had to jump in. We’ve never made it this far,” she said, giggling. “I didn’t even have another change of clothes.”
The boat sank just as she was stretching out her leg to join her students, sparing her from a soggy splash in the pool.
It wasn’t the first time Lee had shown her willingness to go the extra mile for her students.
Months earlier, the school had been in need of a faculty adviser for the cardboard boat racers. No one wanted to take the helm, but Lee stepped up.
On Wednesday, she was giddy with excitement as she watched her students race to second place.
“They met twice a week and discussed prototypes, but never took them into the pool, so they came very far,” she said, as lifeguards fished scraps of cardboard from the pool. “I’m so proud.”