Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) may have won this year's Cardboard Regatta race, but is was the Vietnamese Student Association's (VSA) "Batmobile" that brought down the house.
Made from just cardboard and black duct tape, VSA's entry was a near perfect replica of Batman's iconic ride.
While the Batmobile placed third in the final heat of the race, it did secure first place in the creativity category.
VSA was one of 20 teams that entered the Nov. 6 race, the highest turn out in the three years since the event launched.
A Modest Proposal's entry also caused a stir among the crowd gathered in the Activity Center Natatorium because it was a shallow canoe designed to look like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle shell.
Benjamin Piper, assistant director of Recreational Sports, is the mastermind behind the cardboard regatta idea.
He attended conferences where they discussed recreational activities that had worked out well on other college campuses. The cardboard regatta came up in one of the discussions and he felt that it would be perfect for getting students involved at UTD.
Interest was so great among the Collegium V students that they entered two cardboard boats: a pirate ship and a "stealth log."
Business administration senior Andrew Hoelscher coordinated the team effort and described exactly how a team goes about building a two-person ship made from only cardboard and duct tape.
"Take a box and fit it as small as you can for two people, from their knees to bottom of their feet, and then make it just a little wider than that," he said. "Around that layer boxes, attaching them to the walls as seamlessly as possible. Then coat it in as many layers of duct tape as you can."
This year's surprise was the freshmen entry, "Nice Aft." This team was an independent entry coordinated by finance senior Brian Vaughn. They took second place, beating the "Batmobile" by a mere three seconds.
Teammates Frank Lima and Connor Pokorny, undecided freshmen, said they built their entry, the Nice Aft, by applying the design and engineering principles they had learned in high school.
Brand new to the regatta was the Filipino Students Association (FSA).
FSA president Julia Joyner said their motivation for entering this year was to get more involved in campus life. Their colorful pontoon included matching cardboard and duct tape hats.
"We better at least place because this cost over $100 with duct tape and cardboard," said duct tape and moral support supplier teammate, public affairs senior Ryan Malabanan.
Malabanan said it was a part of his Filipino culture to be concerned about getting value for money.
Their "fresh off the boat" themed entry placed second in the creativity category.
There were five races, called heats, and then the final race, which was between the winners of each heat.
Collegium V's "Newbies" team, piloting the pirate ship, ended up disqualified in their heat for swimming and pulling their entry as it fell apart in the water. Team "Phoenix", in the stealth log, went out in heat five.
"Nice Aft" initially appeared to have the lead, but SAE was hot on their heels. Just as they were about to reach the reach the far end of the pool in their final lap, their boat turned sideways just enough to get stuck in the corner of the pool, preventing them from reaching the edge of the pool.
The delay gave SAE just enough time to hit the edge of the pool, jump to dry land, and win. "Nice Aft" disentangled themselves from the corner of the pool in time to place second.
The Batmobile rounded out the top three.
Placing third to the Batmobile and FSA was the "Yellow Submarine" entered by Kappa Alpha Theta.
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