{"id":855,"date":"2017-06-21T12:00:46","date_gmt":"2017-06-21T16:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine?p=855"},"modified":"2023-08-04T09:30:25","modified_gmt":"2023-08-04T13:30:25","slug":"splash-brothers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/splash-brothers\/","title":{"rendered":"Splash Brothers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It\u2019s been almost five decades since Peter Bruckmann \u201970 and Jeffrey Buchner \u201971 last performed together, yet their faces still light up in unison as they recall their old clown diving routines. \u201cIt was slapstick, almost like old vaudeville,\u201d Buchner says of the performances he and Bruckmann put on at aquatic events on campus and throughout the tristate area between 1967 and 1970.<\/p>\n<aside>\n<header>The signature clown dive<\/header>\n<p>1. Peter Bruckmann jumped first off the board and did a reverse flip.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-849\" style=\"object-position: 64.695% 52.325%\" src=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"817\" height=\"672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash1.jpg 817w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash1-300x247.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash1-768x632.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash1-360x296.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash1-9x7.jpg 9w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 817px) 100vw, 817px\" \/><br \/>\n2. While Bruckmann was turning in the air, Jeffrey Buchner would jump off the board, diving under Bruckmann.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-850\" style=\"object-position: 53.045% 55.985%\" src=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"817\" height=\"1261\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash2.jpg 817w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash2-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash2-768x1185.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash2-663x1024.jpg 663w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash2-360x556.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash2-9x14.jpg 9w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 817px) 100vw, 817px\" \/><br \/>\n3. Buchner would land atop Bruckmann and \u201cride\u201d him into the water.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-851\" style=\"object-position: 54.515% 42.6575%\" src=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"817\" height=\"1483\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash3.jpg 817w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash3-165x300.jpg 165w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash3-768x1394.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash3-564x1024.jpg 564w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash3-360x653.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splash3-9x16.jpg 9w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 817px) 100vw, 817px\" \/><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>The duo says they were recruited into the aquacade circuit by their Monmouth swim coach, Dick Steadman. According to the pair, Steadman was a former clown diver himself\u2014he had performed alongside Olympians Buster Crabbe and Johnny \u201cTarzan\u201d Weissmuller as part of Billy Rose\u2019s Aquacade, a music, dance, and swimming show that was part of the 1939\u201340 New York World\u2019s Fair\u2014and helped Bruckmann and Buchner devise a routine they would perform during Parents Day and other on-campus events.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt all started out in the audience, kind of like the [Harlem] Globetrotters, with one of us chasing the other around or off the diving board,\u201d says Buchner, his voice still thick with a raspy Bronx accent despite the fact he has lived at the Jersey Shore most of his life. Steadman would introduce Bruckmann to the audience as \u201cone of the greatest divers of all time,\u201d at which point Buchner would stand up in the crowded audience and yell something like: \u201cBooo! Are you kidding me? He\u2019s been to every dive in town!\u201d The audience, unaware of the gag, would usually begin to whisper and then finally bark \u201cSit down!\u201d and \u201cShut up!\u201d as Buchner continued his taunt around the pool. That often ended with an officer\u2014who was in on the joke\u2014escorting Buchner away. When the show resumed, and just as Bruckmann approached the board to wow the crowd, Buchner came from behind the locker rooms to stir things up again.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019d dump a bucket of water on me,\u201d says Bruckmann, his cheeks turning a jolly crimson as he explains the next part of the routine. \u201cThen I\u2019d pick up another bucket filled with confetti, and I\u2019d chase him down into the stands and throw it, and all of this confetti is coming out and everyone is diving out of the way\u2014\u201d<br \/>\n\u201cProbably thinking it\u2019s water!\u201d Buchner chimes in.<\/p>\n<p>The two would then begin their kooky show.<\/p>\n<p>As time passed, their routine evolved. The duo\u2019s signature dive was the reverse horse and rider. Bruckmann would jump first and do a reverse flip, and as he was turning in the air, Buchner would jump off the board and dive under him as he landed atop to \u201cride\u201d him into the water.<\/p>\n<p>They added other dives along the way, like the fire dive\u2014which, they admit, didn\u2019t go as planned the first time.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes we practiced, and sometimes we didn\u2019t\u2014the night we lit my brother on fire we didn\u2019t practice!\u201d laughs Buchner. \u201cDick sort of told us how to do it except for one particular part.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The duo had brought Buchner\u2019s younger brother, Stephen, on for the trick; he drew the short straw to go first. Dressed in a cape doused in kerosene, he readied to dive while the duo lit his cape afire. Just as it caught, the hair on the back of Stephen\u2019s legs started to sizzle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll you heard was this loud shrill\u2014it was my mother passing out in the middle of the whole thing, remember?\u201d Buchner chuckles, barely making it through the sentence as Bruckmann shakes his head up and down gleefully in recollection of the stunt. \u201cAll of the hair on the back of his legs [was gone]. He looked like a singed chicken!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The kerosene left the pool black and smelly for three days, but the episode taught them the importance of using lamp oil and Vaseline in the stunt.<\/p>\n<p>The duo\u2019s on-campus performances normally lasted about 20 minutes, and followed roughly the same format, but there were a few shows that were somewhat out of the ordinary\u2014like the time Crabbe, the former Olympian, performed as part of the Parents Day Water Show on campus in May 1969.<\/p>\n<p>What was more extraordinary were the times the duo, sometimes with a small team of other divers, performed off campus. One show in particular remains a favorite memory for both Buchner and Bruckmann.<\/p>\n<p>The two, along with three other divers, performed a comedy diving routine as the \u201cMonmouth College Commandoes\u201d to mark the opening of a new pool at the YMCA in Flushing, Queens. The event was attended by the likes of Gertrude Ederle, the first woman to swim the English Channel, as well as Crabbe and his fellow Olympian, Don Schollander.<\/p>\n<p>When the show was over, Buchner and Bruckmann left the building along with the stars, who were signing autographs and having their pictures taken. Thinking the two Monmouth College students were also famous athletes, fans began asking Buchner and Bruckmann for their autographs as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was hysterical! I said to Pete, \u2018Just sign!\u2019\u201d laughs Buchner. \u201cThere might be quite a few of our autographs out there. I think we signed a lot!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two alumni recall their wet and wild days performing as clown divers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":853,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"{\"x\":27,\"y\":47}","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[94,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-athletics","category-play"],"thumbnail":"<img width=\"242\" height=\"300\" src=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splashbros-242x300.jpg\" class=\"lazyload wp-image-853 wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" role=\"presentation\" style=\"object-position:27% 47%\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splashbros-242x300.jpg 242w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splashbros-768x953.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splashbros-825x1024.jpg 825w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splashbros-2048x2541.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splashbros-1536x1906.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splashbros-1400x1737.jpg 1400w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splashbros-1024x1270.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splashbros-828x1027.jpg 828w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splashbros-360x447.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splashbros-9x11.jpg 9w, https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2017\/06\/splashbros.jpg 2174w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 242px) 100vw, 242px\" \/>","catString":"Athletics, Play","issue":"Summer 2017","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1004,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855\/revisions\/1004"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}