It was a cool October morning. There was a fair wind blowing and the crisp autumn leaves by Columbia Lake flew gracefully into it, dotting the water red and gold. The surface rippled in expectation and the smell of victory was in the air. It was a perfect day for boat racing.
28 five-man teams, 8 of which were women’s teams, attended this event. Although the majority of contestants were engineers, there was the occasional artsie who joined us, realizing that engineers are the most fun. Being October 30th, the day before Halloween, many teams were dressed in full costume. Special mention goes out to Team Awesome who showed up in a boat that they made themselves, complete with fake cannons, the Nerdy Team with the beta version pocket protectors and Team Edward who must have spent countless hours covering themselves in sparkles.
And with the cry of: “Racers down! (To man the oars) Judges ready! Racers Ready! 3, 2, 1 Race!” the boat racing was under way! Teams showcased their nautical prowess in the drink and only very few racers succumbed to sea sickness. Boat racing is tiring work and tends to make people thirsty. Luckily, there was plenty of BEvERage to go round. Grudge matches were inevitable and some obvious ones had to be done. Team Jake beat out Team Edward in a close race, and the Star Wars team took on the Star Trek team in a real nail biter in which, as usual, the Star Trek engineers all perished. The winning teams of the event were Fear no Beer, and Team Awesome, both teams coming in under 20 seconds.
In addition to being awesome as usual, this boat race also had a fancy trophy. Three hours before the racing began, a call went out, “The Cup is Up!” Team Mac from McMaster University donning red jumpsuits and Team U of T who showed up in their signature leather jackets both answered the call within the requisite three hours. Both of the teams were vying for the new cup (the hosts can’t keep the cup).
I was a racer myself, anchoring for The Red Shirts, a (very fantastic, and quite good looking) team that faced both Team Mac and Team U of T. We beat Team Mac on a technicality and then cleanly defeated Team U of T by a full three seconds. It came as no surprise to us that it was the stronger Team Mac that took home the cup that day.
This marked the beginning of a new tradition of camaraderie and spirit between the three universities: University of Waterloo, University of Toronto, and McMaster University. So McMaster now hosts The Cup, and will announce three hours before the competition begins that “The Cup is Up!” Waterloo will have to send a representing team to face off against U of T. Who will answer the call?
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