As of last week, the Hopkins Wading Team secured its first official corporate sponsorship.
In a formal press release on March 27, The Tradition Scarf announced it was partnering with the Wading Team, known colloquially as the Sea Cucumbers, in an effort to increase school spirit at Hopkins.
“Under the current agreement The Tradition Scarf will be the official scarf provider for the Sea Cucumbers as they compete mano-a-mano, one pruney digit at a time against perennial powerhouse Harvard University’s Sea Urchins,” stated the press release.
The Sea Urchins are the fictitious rivals of the Sea Cucumbers.
James Miervaldis, class of 2006, started The Tradition Scarf after serving tours of duty in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Through the American Corporate Partners program, he was paired with a veteran with an existing successful business to help him start his company.
“Everyone has been super excited to be a part of a veteran’s small business, and a portion of each sale goes back to the alumni association, so this is my way of giving back,” Miervaldis said.
In addition to acting as Chief Executive Officer of The Tradition Scarf, Miervaldis has been working with alumnus Efrem Epstein, class of 1990, on an initiative to strengthen Hopkins traditions.
Epstein found the Wading Team’s Facebook page and shared it with Miervaldis.
“Hopkins is known for excellence, not everyone can be a BME, but nine times out of 10 it’s that creativity and resourcefulness, that’s what I see in these guys,” Miervaldis said. “They remind me of me when I was running around campus.”
Miervaldis contacted sophomore Travis Schmauss, the Wading Team’s technical captain, about teaming up, and team up they did.
“He saw a need for the after process, getting dry and that kind of thing, so he basically gave us access to these tradition towels that he made,” Schmauss said.
The Wading Team has embraced their new equipment and have flexed their creative muscles in using it to their advantage.
“They can be used as projectiles in some cases,” Schmauss said.
Wading is a very intricate sport. The sport consists of three events: set up, endurance and take down. Endurance is the main event, as members of the opposing teams are not permitted to exit the wading pool for any reason.
“Endurance is which team can stay in the pool the longest, on one can leave the pool for any reason, no peeing in the pool,” sophomore Nate Choe, president of the Wading Team, said.
While endurance is the main event, Wading Team members say the biggest challenge for them is the take down.
“It’s our weakest event for sure,” Schmauss said.
Tactics, such as the use of projectiles, are important for the team to remain competitive in the 2014 season.
“[Duke] actually uses ballistics, we’ve been trying to sort that out, but yes they have been throwing things, empty cans, whatever they can get their hands on,” Schmauss said.
The Duke squad is another fictitious wading team.
The Sea Cucumbers “play” their perennial rival, the Harvard Sea Urchins, in two weeks. Miervaldis wanted to make sure that the team was well outfitted for this major match.
“I heard a rumor that Harvard was looking into a sponsorship by a pretty big shoe company with a swoosh on it, and I could not turn around and see our rival, our perennial powerhouse rival, get all the attention,” Miervaldis said.
Choe joked that the historic rivalry between the Sea Cucumbers and the Sea Urchins goes as far back as the beginnings of both Hopkins and Harvard.
“John Harvard actually bet Johns Hopkins to see which one of them could stay in the water the longest and that spurred the rivalry between Harvard and Hopkins, which predates the JHU 30 years,” Choe said.
Schmauss facetiously explained that wading, in fact, contributed in large part to many aspects of Hopkins itself as an institution.
“Johns Hopkins was so moved by his experience that he established the Beach, he was actually a little delusional by that time, as there was no water, but he insisted there was a beach and that the university would be founded on principles of wading,” Schmauss said.
When it comes down to the sport of wading at Hopkins, the team is carrying out centuries of tradition.
“If you want to talk about the very beginnings of wading, rumor has it that Aristotle actually came up with the concept at the same that he discovered density,” sophomore Nick Mehrle, the Wading Team’s merchant, said.
While the Wading Team is carrying out what they stress is a long-standing tradition, Miervaldis hopes that this new corporate sponsorship will allow the team to continue thinking outside the pool.
“The Tradition Scarf is proud to sponsor their efforts to make Johns Hopkins a world renowned leader in wading,” Miervaldis said in the press release.
As the Sea Cucumbers consider their future, they are excited to continue expanding their group.
The recent purchase of two new pools for the team, with funding provided by the Student Activities Office, have already allowed the team to get more students involved in the art of wading.
“We’re excited to get more people involved,” Schmauss said. “We are going to be having a few wades with the lacrosse games coming up when the weather warms up.”
With the opportunity to get more students involved, the Sea Cucumbers are looking to further expand upon the community they have brought together with light-hearted humor and wit.
“These guys are bringing a true sense of community in uniting alumni,” Miervaldis said.
Ultimately, however, The Sea Cucumbers, along with The Tradition Scarf, have only one concern: #BeatHarvard.
