University Recreation hosted its fourth annual AquaPatch event at the Student Recreation Center pool Wednesday evening.

AquaPatch is an opportunity for students to go for a swim and pick one of nearly 600 hundred pumpkins floating in the pool, said Jared Lindorfer, coordinator of aquatics and safety education. If people do not want to get wet, they can point out which pumpkin they want and a lifeguard will grab it for them.

Students had an opportunity to carve and decorate them after picking up their pumpkins. The area of the SRC that normally features table tennis was set aside and stocked with paint, brushes and safe carving tools for students to personalize their pumpkins.

While the event is meant for students and members of the UREC, they will consider making it open to the community in the future, Lindorfer said. It depends on the number of pumpkins their donor supplies them with and the turnout from students.

The AquaPatch pumpkins are donated by a local farm Lindorfer has a connection with. The farm wishes to remain anonymous, he said.

UREC lifeguard Madison Gray said this is her third year working the AquaPatch. Gray has worked as a lifeguard at the pool since her freshmen year and enjoys helping out with the event. She spent her shift wading through the pool and grabbing the pumpkins students pointed at.

Wednesday night had the most people in attendance Gray said she has seen in her three years working the AquaPatch. This was the first year the UREC advertised the event beforehand.

UREC lifeguard Collin Gammon said the AquaPatch made his shift a lot more fun. Like Gray, he got to wade through the water and help students pick out pumpkins throughout the evening.

Some students are very decisive and know which pumpkin they want immediately, and others spend up to 20 minutes deciding, Gammon said. He enjoys getting to watch people decide.

Isabella Jordan, psychology and criminal justice major, said she immediately knew which pumpkin she wanted.

“I walked over, and in two seconds, I was like, ‘that one,’” she said.

Jordan painted her pumpkin with pink and white polka dots, while her friend Shannon Whiting painted purple stripes on hers.

The deciding quality she looks for when picking out a pumpkin is its shape, Whiting said. She chose to paint purple stripes on her pumpkin because she saw a similar design on Pinterest with black stripes.

The Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity sent Max Schrock and Nate Hess to pick up pumpkins for the house, Schrock said. He decided to carve the fraternity’s crest into his pumpkin. When he is finding the right pumpkin, he always looks for the most round and orange, Schrock said.

Hess decided to carve the Delta Delta Delta sorority’s crest into his pumpkin as a welcoming gesture, he said. When he is deciding which pumpkin to grab, he said he picks the prettiest.