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Couple Wins Watermelon Eating Contest

Posted on: Tuesday, 27 July 2004, 06:00 CDT

BROOKVILLE, Ohio - A Nevada couple devoured their competition in the first watermelon-eating contest to be sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eating.

Rich LeFevre won the title of World Watermelon Eating Champion on Saturday after putting down 11.22 pounds at the "Swellin' with Melon" contest. LeFevre's wife Carlene took second with 9.78 pounds.

The rules of the contest were simple: eat as much precut seedless watermelon as possible in 15 minutes, and keep it down until after the contest. The competitors - four professional eaters and 12 local entrants - were given trays containing 15 pounds of watermelon.

"We made them stand and eat over their trays, so even the liquid went into it and afterward we subtracted what was left from 15," said Ryan Nerz, spokesman for the International Federation of Competitive Eating.

By the end of the contest, all of the competitors were covered in watermelon juice, and had big wet spots on the fronts of their green T-shirts.

"Rich LeFevre, by the end, he had all juice and was lifting it up to his face to drink the watermelon juice," Nerz said.

Brian Seiken, of New York City, finished third after eating 8.07 pounds of watermelon. He said he prepared by not eating any sugar for a day and a half, and not drinking anything for 12 hours. He said he played basketball before the contest to dehydrate himself even more.

"It was real tough. You had about 12 local eaters that could put away a lot of watermelon. My goal was to not lose to any of the locals," he said.

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