A small collection of performers fell flat on Friday morning in Ocean City’s annual King and Queen of Plop Contest.
The pre-Labor Day tradition asks contestants to welcome the fall season by performing artistic, slow-motion falls on the beach.
The contestants compete for trophies and the esteemed honor of carrying the King or Queen of Plop title throughout the year.
The light-hearted event is a staple of the last weekend of the traditional summer season in Ocean City, and it features “celebrity poppers” such as Nancy Fox of Fox Vocal Arts, Doug Jewell of Air Circus and Ocean City Public Relations Director Mark Soifer.
This year featured a three-peat for Queens of Plop Sophia Whelan, 9, of Ocean City, and Olivia Cook, 11, of Philadelphia. The pair’s gymnastic routine with a crash landing has been a hit for the past three years,
Results are as follows:
Kings of Plop
- First: Chris King and Michael Fisher of Delran, N.J.
- Second: Marco and Luca DeCrescenzo of Cedar Knolls, N.J.
- Third: Cullen Whelan and Jack Cook of Ocean City and Philadelphia
- Honorable Mention: Caleb and Jacob Wong of Ocean City
- Honorable Mention: Frank Worrell of Ocean City
- Honorable Mention: Colin McGarrigle of Medford, N.J.
Queens of Plop
- First: Olivia Cook (Philadelphia) and Sophia Whelan (Ocean City)
- Second: Esme DeCrescenzo of Philadelphia
- Third: Stella and Ave Maria Murphy of Ocean View
- Honorable Mention: Paton and Sofia Kriszynski of Falls Church, Va.
- Honorable Mention: Maggie Prentice of Hoquiam, Wash.
Video of the event is above.
