Elgin Manalang enters the final stretch of the Water Ninja obstacle course during Turnfest Thursday. One-hundred and eleven Turner members competed for the fastest time from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

NEW ULM– TurnFest continued to emphasize sound mind and sound body with their athletic competitions Thursday.

Events included traditional Turner events like Gymnastics, Track and Field, Volleyball, and Mass and Model Drill. The non-traditional event for this year’s TurnFest also took place.

New Ulm’s Turnverein Commission had the opportunity to pick a sport not usually included. The commission chose Water Ninja, an race with obstacles both above and underwater participants need to grab onto, swing with, and swim through. They decided to take advantage of the unique feature in New Ulm’s Recreation Center.

The event took place from 8 a.m to 2 p.m. and invited participants to come when they were able. Director of this event was George Downs of New Ulm. He said the event requires a combination of underwater and gymnastic skills.

“I think it’s a terrific course,” Downs said. “I’d never seen [anything like] it before New Ulm installed it. It’s really fun for the kids.”

On average, participants were able to complete the course in around 40 seconds. Downs found the reception to this new event has been mainly positive.

“Terrific, they love it,” Downs said. “They want to do it again and again. When we’ve had extra time, we let them do it extra times. We had 111 people sign up and we had 111 five minute time slots. It’s been tight but they’ve been going faster and people are very happy with it.”

A large amount of participants were young adults, including Olivia Kerrins from Aurora, Illinois. Kerrins has been participating in Turner activities for 14 years, as she comes from a family of Turners.

“It’s a really good [way] to make friends,” Kerrins said “I’ve gotten closer to my family because I get to [do Turner activities with them] a lot.”

After completing the course, Kerrins found the Water Ninja course to be an enjoyable experience. “It was fun. I was a little nervous before it but it was good. I would do it again,” she said.

Kerrins is also competing in gymnastics, pickleball, track, and mass drill throughout the week. She said accessibility separated it from the other activities she’ll be participating in.

“This one is a lot of fun, I didn’t really need any talent to it,” Kerrins said. “Anyone can do it.”

For those who would like to try the Water Ninja course in the future, Kerrins has a tip for you. “Go feet first when you go through the underwater [hoops],” she said. “It makes it a lot easier cause you can actually see where you’re going.”

The Water Ninja course is available to the public during the New Ulm Rec Center’s open swimming hours. For coverage of other Turner events from Wednesday, turn to the sports section.