Delta Gamma makes waves with Anchor Splash

By Scott Van Pelt
Features Editor

There’s a reason Anchor Splash is marketed as the “wildest, most entertaining philanthropy event of the year” by the sisters of the Delta Gamma sorority. In addition to raising money for the blind, the annual event provides an opportunity for students to show off their skills (of lack thereof) in the pool.

Students on 22 teams participated in the event, which took place on April 16 in Kinney Natatorium. Many were Greek organizations, though first-year halls and sports teams were also represented.

Teams competed in a number of events, including a big splash competition and “castaway,” a relay race in which each team had four participants tow a fifth participant in a tube.

The big splash event invited a representative from each team to show off their most impressive dives into the pool. Some favorite moves included the can-opener, the cannonball and, to the crowd’s delight, the belly flop.

“Anchor Splash is really more about laughter than skill, especially in the synchronized swimming and biggest splash events. It’s just a fun night and an excuse to be silly in the pool,” said Shannon Hayes ’11, a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta team.

The synchronized swimming event provided some of greatest humor of the night. The Kappa Sigma teams dressed for the occasion—complete with standard swimming trunks and not-so-standard suspenders.

Other teams sported pirate hats and capes, adding a theatrical flair to Anchor Splash.

Additionally, the synchronized swimming competition featured a musical component. The Arts Residential College, for instance, swam to the tune of “Build Me Up, Buttercup,” while the Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity’s routine made use of the YouTube favorite, “I’m on a Boat.”

Laura Twichell ’11, who co-organized the event with Sarah O’Laughlin ’11, was pleased with the event’s reception.

“I think that the event went really well this year. I know that people had a lot of fun doing the event, and I’ve been told by a lot of people in the crowd that they didn’t stop laughing the entire time,” Twichell said.

For a number of participants, this was not their first Anchor Splash.

“I did it last year with the Arts Res College and had so much fun that I knew I wanted to do it again this year with Kappa Alpha Theta,” Kiersten Wakeman ’11 said.

The money raised from Anchor Splash goes to aid the Williamsport and Sunbury branches of the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind and the Delta Gamma Foundation.

“This year we raised around $4,000 to donate,” Twichell said. “Overall, I’m really happy with how the event went, and I’m really excited that we have a good amount of money to donate to such a good cause.”