“If it’s the cannonball year, how do you not have a cannonball contest?!” Ms. Krein asks.

On the 500th anniversary of Saint Ignatius’ famous cannonball moment, Loyola has put on a special “Cannonball Year” edition of the iconic Cannonball Contest. 

Multiple Loyola students across all grade levels participated in the competition. Student Activities director Ms. Krein stated that this was “the biggest number of people to do the competition in a really long time”. 

 Ms. Krein also mentioned that while the cannonball competition has been happening annually the past few years, that was not always the case. For a few years, the competition was cancelled after a “bloody stomach” incident, in which a student’s belly flop caused him to bleed in the pool.

Even after his injury, this Rambler alum continued to belly flop and ended up winning the competition. Despite the dangers of this contest, many students were up for the challenge.

Kate Ginn, the Class of 2023’s undefeated cannonball champion, said that “the criteria [for winning] is just being the best, and I am.”

Each grade level had its own contest during their designated flex period. The winners were determined by three judges, and each judge was able to give anywhere between 0 and 10 points. The contestant with the most points total would win. 

Many Loyola teachers were chosen to judge the contest. According to Ms Krein, “the judges are kind of ridiculous,” so winning the competition would depend on crowd appeal more so than actual, technical skill.

The contest was split into three rounds: the cannonball, the belly flop, and diver’s choice. 

Lauren Smyth, the student council member organizing the competition, said that “it’s going to come down to who’s most creative with their third jump.” 

The cannonball contest was set to occur Friday, January 28, but after a sudden snow day, it was cancelled. When asked about if the contest would be rescheduled, Smyth initially didn’t know.

Luckily, on Monday, January 31, Student Activities announced that the contest was rescheduled and was set to occur on Tuesday, February 2.

The turnout for the competition was huge, with around 100 juniors coming out to watch. Kate Ginn was the only junior girl in the contest, competing against Patrick Halleron, Daniel Crawford, and Panayiotis Mihalopoulos.

It was a tight competition. The atmosphere was incredibly lively, with celebratory shouts and laughs. Maryam Hopps, a junior who watched the event, said that she “felt as if the cannonball contest brought together our grade, because we were all on one balcony and laughing at the same stuff.” 

There were many memorable moments, from the diving board bouncing so much it looked like it might break, to Kate’s final backwards belly flop.

In the end, Kate Ginn won, making her a three-time cannonball champion. Kate dedicated her win to her fans: “without their support, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Kate said: “Panayiotis put up a really big fight, but he slipped off the board a few times, made some mistakes, and I didn’t make those mistakes.”

Overall, this year’s cannonball contest was a roaring success, with no bloody bellies and lots of entertained students and faculty.

Will Kate Ginn win the competition every year throughout her time at Loyola? Can anyone top her performance? Tune in next year to find out.