By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—In a stupendous display of grit and skill, Winky returned to Brandon on July 1 and erased last year’s annihilating humiliation from memory with a 2nd-place finish in the annual Duck Race.
“I knew I could do it,” said Winky as he recovered with a grub smoothie after the race. “I mean, I had my moments of doubt over this past year, not gonna lie, but in my heart, I knew I had it in me. It feels so good to know I made someone a winner this year.”
Fans of the sport will recall that last year, Winky took what looked like an insurmountable lead early on, only to see his entire life dashed against the rocks at the base of the falls, where he was drawn by the currents into the irresistible maelstrom of misery.
“I didn’t get cocky this year. I kept telling myself, ‘Be humble. Be humble. Just keep your beak down and do what you practiced.’ And it worked,” said Winky.
“I didn’t get the start I wanted, but I didn’t panic,” he added. “I just paddled slow and steady toward the front of the pack. I knew I didn’t want to be the first one over the falls, because that was the trap last year. I needed someone else to go first, so I could see where the currents were.”
It was a strategy that proved wise.
“As soon as I felt that net scooping me up and saw there was only one other duck in there, I knew I’d made it…” Winky began to sob. “I’m sorry…I’ll be ok. I’m just a little emotional. It’s been a rough year. It’s been a rough year.”
THE WINNERS FROM l to r: Rigatoni, Winky, and Nugget. Winky may not have come in 1st in the race but his unbelievable comeback put him 1st in our hearts.
The 1st-place winner was a blue ducky named Rigatoni who competed in Brandon for the first time this year. Originally from Springfield, MA, Rigatoni (“My friends call me Rig”) has lived in Sudbury for the last 3 years.
“I moved up here to be with my girlfriend,” said Rig. “We mate for life, you know, so when she said she wanted to be closer to her family, I really had no choice. But I really love it and look forward to raising 60 or 70 ducklings here over the years.”
“My victory was really just a fluke,” Rig continued. “I wish I could say I trained for it or even had some kind of plan. I kind of decided to sign up at the last minute just because it was such a hot day and I just wanted to get in the water. I don’t really like crowds, so when there were all these strange duckies touching and rubbing up on me in the water, I was like ‘This is so gross’ and just started swimming out of the pack. The next thing I knew, I was tumbling over the falls and some dude scoops me up in a net. It’s all good, though. I’m getting my picture in the paper, right?”
The 3rd-place finisher was a ducky from Brattleboro called Nugget. This was her tenth ducky race overall and her second time competing in Brandon.
“Brandon is definitely one of the biggest races on the circuit right now,” she said. “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. All the elite duckies showed up and I’m honored to be on the podium. The competition was super stiff this year, but my training got me through it.”
“I came down to the Neshobe the day before, just to scope it out, which helped a lot. I totally saw how the currents were running and where I needed to aim myself for the big drop over the falls. I did think I had a really good chance of winning the whole thing but am pretty stoked just to have medaled. People don’t realize how disoriented you are when you land at the bottom of the falls. You really don’t know which end is up at that point and just have to hope you’re in a good position. When I got scooped up and saw Winky and Rig in the net, I knew I’d come in third. There was, like, a brief moment of disappointment but then I reminded myself that 3rd place is better than no place and there’s always next year.”
The only stain on this year’s event was the disqualification of Canyon for cheating.
“I don’t know why everyone is freaking out,” he said. “I told y’all I was going to do it like last week. My only regret is getting caught.”
Until next year, Brandon!
