A five-year-old boy has been crowned the true owner of the name “Josh” after hundreds showed up to a heated pool noodle battle to win the title.
Hundreds of people showed up at Air Park in Lincoln on Saturday to participate in the lighthearted fight, which was open to anyone with the first name of Josh.
The bizarre phenomenon began when Josh Swain, a 22-year-old college student from Tucson, Arizona, messaged others who shared his name on social media and challenged them to a duel in 2020.
Mr Swain explained to KLKN: “for a long time I’ve gone on Twitter and Instagram and I’ve tried to get the handle of just ‘Josh Swain’ and it’s always been taken… one day I was like alright we can fix this.”
The college student explained that his message, in part, also came from boredom due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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“I didn’t expect the whole internet to take it and start contacting every ‘Josh’ they knew,” he said. “I did not expect people to be as adamant about this as they are right now.”
On the day, there were two competitions, with the first being a “grueling and righteous battle of Rock, Paper, Scissors” for the title of Josh Swain.
KLKN reported that the Arizona student won that competition, allowing him to claim the title of the one and only Josh Swain.
A small boy nicknamed “Little Josh” won the pool noodle fight and was crowned with a burger king crown and a belt to announce his victory.
Mr Swain said he partnered with the Lincoln Food Bank to use the event to set up a food drive and set up a charity fund for the Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in the state.
“The title is ‘Legal Fees for Josh’s to Change their Names’ but it actually just goes to the children’s hospital,” Mr Swain said.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press
