600 ducks swim against each other
Created: 09/12/2022, 08:12
766df741-2aa7-4d33-9cc9-a66d9f0de3e7.jpg © Michael Schönwalder
A murmur goes through the crowd, then a loud scream: "They're coming!" It's a huge spectacle when hundreds of yellow rubber ducks swim down the Würm - like this Saturday.
Würmtal
– After a two-year break, the most exciting “sporting event” of the season started in the Würmtal on Saturday: the duck race organized by the association “Miteinander” on the Würm between the bridges on Germeringer Straße and the Friedenskirche.
A heavy downpour in the morning had somewhat filled up the low water in the river.
Nevertheless, the swimming times of the 600 rubber ducks were the longest since the club was founded 18 years ago.
Play and fun oasis in Pfarrer's garden
At lunchtime, tables and benches – borrowed from the community and set up under umbrellas and tents with the help of the fire brigade at the Friedenskirche – were wiped dry, the grill was sizzling, the coffee was fragrant and the rich cake buffet was tempting.
Even the play-and-fun oasis for the little ones, for which Father Walter Ziermann, who was on vacation, had made his garden available, wasn't too muddy.
The ducklings, which had been sold for the association in the local shops, were able to check in with certificates.
"We'll give the last ones a chance for one or two minutes who haven't trusted the weather so far," announced Anneliese Bradel from the association, which co-finances a deacon position for youth work with the proceeds from various activities.
Date moved to September
Shortly after 2 p.m., the ducks were driven to the start and, if possible, dumped into the water at the same time.
"Some shook themselves because it was so cold this year!" - the date had been postponed to September this time because of the many events that had been rescheduled.
But everyone was happy that after a two-year break and "online races" in the bathtubs, a real party together was possible again.
The meadow was teeming with families from grandparents to babies.
Children and young people worked diligently everywhere.
"I've been here since I was two years old," said one teenager.
The “asylum boys”, who were hired for the first time in 2015, also helped eagerly, including at the “international barbecue” with Ali from Somalia and Richard from Uganda.
"They are coming!"
The tension gradually increased.
The "catchers", Daniel Kleindienst from the board and his team, climbed into the river in boots and waders to applause.
Peter Sickinger, as the owner of the fishing rights, gave his okay and also donated rolls.
The people waiting crowded onto the bridge and along the banks, the children holding hands so that no one swam involuntarily.
At 2:27 p.m. the cry went out: “They are coming!” But you still had to be patient for another half hour and make do with food and drink at family-friendly prices before the last duck had reached its destination.
Prize for the lamest duck
In a ceremonial procession, the ten winners were carried onto the stage in blue buckets and their numbers were called out.
The tension became almost unbearable.
Vouchers from the suburb bakery, from Intersport and vocabulary could be won, as well as admission and family tickets for popular leisure facilities.
A girl from the kindergarten's sunflower group can climb the bouldering wall in Thalkirchen, a preschooler in the climbing forest in Vaterstetten, others can visit the German Museum or go boating on Lake Starnberg.
Even the "lamest duck" received an annual ticket for the Pasinger Westbad to train diligently with her owner and her grandmother until the next race.
Funny ducky hand puppets were distributed among the 589 who left empty-handed and consolation prizes donated by the communities were raffled.
All in all, it was a great "togetherness".
Those who had to go home without a prize this time could console themselves with a happy family celebration, a duck for the bathtub, free training in patience and frustration tolerance and a new chance for next year's race.
Friederike Tschochner