World Egg-Throwing Championships named England's quirkiest event for second year
EGG-THROWING has beaten off stiff competition to be crowned England's quirkiest event for the second year in a row.
The World Egg-Throwing Championships, held annually in Swaton, near Sleaford, triumphed in Visit England's Where Else But England? awards after receiving thousands of votes via a Visit England and Sun newspaper online poll.
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The championships will be held as part of Swaton Vintage Day on Sunday, June 26, and consist of five games including Throw and Catch, Static Relay, Target Throwing, Russian Egg Roulette and Egg Trebuchet, in which contestants construct a gravity-powered machine to hurl eggs at a target.
Organisers are now hoping that their "eggs-ellent" achievement will help win them a place at the 2012 London Olympics, after they applied for the event to be officially recognised by the Sports Council.
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Andy Dunlop, president of the World Egg-Throwing Federation and responsible for organising the event, is "eggs-tatic" over the accolade.
He said: "We are delighted to be voted the quirkiest event, but our only slight concern is that it might detract from our efforts to get official Sports Council recognition.
"We have yet to hear back on our application, but we have all our fingers crossed.
"Some people don't believe it is a proper sport, but it takes a tremendous amount of skill and strength to throw and catch an egg without breaking it.
"We are immensely proud of how the championships have evolved and the boost it brings to Lincolnshire.
"When we began six years ago it was a little-known event but now we attract hundreds of contestants and thousands of spectators every year.
"We have introduced a number of variations since those early days and have inspired similar events across both the UK and the world.
"And aside from it being lots of fun we raise a tremendous amount of money for charity, and that's the element of the championships that make us most proud."
The Championships are run entirely without profit and last year raised almost £10,000 for a variety of charities including the British Red Cross, the Leukaemia Research Foundation and the County Air Ambulance Trust.
Comments
by lynn, lincoln
Tuesday, April 12 2011, 9:41AM
“The chap in the photo looks as if he is wearing some kind of waterproof poncho, it would make it more fun if the targets were in swimwear, and the eggs were hard-boiled.”
by Bill, Lincoln
Tuesday, April 12 2011, 8:56AM
“At last, something we in Lincolnshire can be proud of!! All this time, we only had piffling things to be proud of such as Tennison, our engineering heritage, great actors, wonderful ancient buildings, world class sportsmen and women and our proud military history. Hoorah for the egg throwers, never mind all that other nonsence, this should put Lincolnshire on the map!”