Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times

Courtney Stultz, 7, of Troutville displays the duck bill she won for making it to the final round of Sunday's duck racing.

Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times

Competitors keep a firm grip on their mallards Sunday during the Great American Duck Race at the Salem Fair.

It's wet. It's wild.

It's waterfowl.

Of all this year's attractions at the Salem Fair, one of the more unusual is duck racing. Robert Duck, self-described "chief quacker" of Duck Enterprises, has made a living out of racing his famous ducks in his show, called "The Great American Duck Race."

Duck (yes, that's his real name) has traveled the country with his noisy crew of mallards for years, winning more than $50,000 in prize money with his talented bunch. Duck and his wife live in New Mexico, where the sport of duck racing is taken very seriously, he says. In fact, one of Duck's birds even holds the world record for the 16-foot duck racing course at .83 seconds.

Duck put on his exhibition once before at the Salem Fair, in 2000. This year he returns with 33 ducks, all about 3 years old.

As the crowd watches, Duck picks four young volunteers, each of whom holds a duck until a whistle is blown to start the race. The birds are released, and are trained to swim as fast as they can down straight, numbered lanes in a rectangular plastic pool about a foot deep. There are four initial rounds of competition, followed by a finals round in which the child volunteers whose ducks won the first races compete against one another.

Duck offered tips to the contestants before they released their ducks. "Cheer for them and they will go faster," he said. "Splash some water behind them as they go." The handlers listened to Duck's advice, and the small racing arena was filled with cheering, splashing and quacking.

The ducks are impressively well-trained. When the music comes on at the beginning of the show, the birds recognize it as their cue to march out to a holding pen. Duck explained that the procession used to include his collie, who would herd the ducks at the same time with the same music at every show. Their beloved dog passed away two months ago, but to Duck's initial surprise, the racers still respond to the music even with no dog to lead the way.

This year, Duck had 216 ducklings hatch at his house in New Mexico. Of the 216, he trained 100. The fastest ones get to go on tour eventually. Their wings are clipped, and this is repeated a couple of times a year to prevent them from flying.

When they are old enough, Duck takes his fastest birds on tour around the country; in 2008, Duck and his show will visit about 22 fairs. The 33 birds he has on tour with him now will alternate with the 35 on reserve back at his home.

When it comes time to choose the ducks for racing, there is no special order. A duck is chosen from the pen and handed to a volunteer contestant, then assigned a show name such as Aflac, SpongeBob, Duck Cheney, Barbecue or Pokemon. The naming is done by Duck, who does the announcing for each race. Although the names change every time, Duck explained that the birds do wear small, numbered identification bands on their legs.

The competition may seem fierce, but Duck said the racing doesn't actually tire the animals out.

The results? Duck-themed prizes for the winners and fun for everyone watching.

"I love it," Duck said. "I'll do it till I drop over."

The show runs approximately 15 minutes. This week, showtimes will be at 5:30, 7 and 8:30 p.m. on weekdays and at 3:30, 6:45 and 8:45 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Children and parents can stop by and feed the ducks for 25 cents throughout the day. Tea manufacturer Lipton sponsors the races, which has allowed the show to continue without an extra admission charge. The races are held inside the pavilion of the Salem Civic Center.