The Herndon Monument climb, a tradition over which the outgoing superintendent of the US Naval Academy Vice Adm Jeffrey Fowler had already expressed displeasure, was done without the lard and water-spraying of previous years.  As a result, the first year midshipmen managed a near-record time of 2 minutes and 5 seconds, as opposed to the more average time of 2 hours or more.

This was not the first time for either the absence of water (banned last year) or a slicked up monument, though it has been decades since the plebes scaled the obelisk without the challenge of lard.

The change was reportedly “to improve the safety of the event.”

The Naval Academy graduation is this Friday.