Residents of Thomas Hall won the annual ROCFest boat race Thursday evening at Campus Pond despite their boat sinking early on in the race.

Each residence hall spent all week building different themed boats out of cardboard and duct tape.

Ryan Moore, president of Thomas Hall council and freshman history major, said his hall began building the boat Sunday night and finished Thursday.

The Thomas Hall boat’s design displayed “ROCFest” written out on the side of the duct-taped boat with many balloons decorated around it like the Disney-Pixar movie “Up.”

“Our theme was ‘Up,’” Moore said. “That was our lobby theme as well.”

Other themes included “Shrek,” “Scooby Doo” and “The Incredibles,” among others.

Each residence hall lined up along the grass near the pond to have their boat decorations judged based on creativity, boat structure and how well the themes were incorporated.

After judging, the teams listened to the rules for the race, which included making three laps around the pond and carrying the boat across the finish line with each member of the team.

The race began, and two rowers from different teams fell in the water soon after.

Allyson Turner, freshman biology major, was the second-lap rower for Thomas Hall.

“(I thought) it was going to be easier than it was,” she said. “It was actually pretty physically demanding.”

Turner said she did not have a technique planned out nor did she get to practice before hand because she said she did not want the boat to get ruined.

“I wanted to get into the boat,” she said. “But it had already sank by the time it got back to me.”

She said her new plan was to hold on to the boat, since she could not sit in it, and swim with one arm to complete her lap.

Moore said their team consisted of a member of Eastern’s swim team and two former lifeguards, which Moore said was part of the team’s strategy in case the boat sank.

“We put a lot of duct tape on (the boat),” he said. “But our cardboard wasn’t strong enough.”

Moore said it felt good to win the boat race and that he was proud of his hall, as they won other events during ROCFest, including Trivia Night and the obstacle course.

Turner said she was glad they won and the event was fun.

The winners of ROCFest have not been announced yet, but Moore said Thomas Hall is feeling confident that they will win.

Hannah Shillo can be reached at 581-2812 or hlshillo@eiu.edu.