(VIDEO) More Than 90,000 Rubber Ducks Flood Chicago River In Record-Setting Special Olympics Fundraiser

CHICAGO — A deluge of more than 90,000 rubber ducks poured out of a truck and into the Chicago River on Thursday, bobbing along a stretch of the skyscraper-lined waterway in the annual Chicago Ducky Derby, a fundraiser that this year set a new record for money raised on behalf of Special Olympics Illinois.

The truck dumped the ducks from one side of a half-raised bridge near Columbus Drive, sending a wave of yellow across the river. After forming a dense pool on the water, the ducks floated for roughly 15 minutes before organizers plucked a winner and runner-up from among the flotilla.

Organizers said 91,517 ducks were ultimately adopted this year, exceeding the event’s target of 90,000 and helping push total fundraising to a record $700,000 for Special Olympics Illinois, according to figures released by CBS Chicago following the event. That total builds on nearly two decades of fundraising since the Ducky Derby began in 2005, with the event having now raised roughly $5.6 million cumulatively for the organization over that span.

The annual event draws thousands of participants both to the riverfront viewing areas and to an accompanying festival held beforehand at Pioneer Court, along North Michigan Avenue. At the festival, attendees snapped photos with oversized inflatable ducks, doodled responses on a chalkboard prompting them to finish the sentence “I adopt a duck because…,” and mingled while wearing rubber duck-printed apparel. Duck adoptions started at $10 apiece, giving the public an accessible way to participate in the fundraiser regardless of budget.

Special Olympics Illinois named Becky Cavanagh, of Clarendon Hills, as this year’s Ducky Derby ambassador. Cavanagh, a 13-year Special Olympics athlete, held up the winning duck to cheers from crowds packed along both sides of the river once it was retrieved from the water. Asked what she enjoyed most about her involvement with Special Olympics, Cavanagh said her favorite part was “making new friends.” When asked before the race how she felt about the prospect of picking the winning duck, she responded simply with an enthusiastic “Woo!”

Special Olympics Illinois organizes athletic competitions across the state for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, offering programming that is free of charge to all participating athletes. Donations tied to the Ducky Derby directly fund specific components of that programming: a $10 contribution to sponsor a single “lone duck” covers a lunch for an athlete during a competition, while $30 buys a “quack pack” of six ducks, enough to help supply a full team with gold medals. Some participants also purchased larger packages, including a “ducky dozen” of a dozen ducks, to further boost their contribution.

This year’s winning duck earned its sponsor a brand-new Chevrolet Trax, donated by Chevrolet dealers across the Chicago and Northwest Indiana region, while the runner-up’s sponsor took home a $2,500 cash prize. Pete Beale-DelVecchio, president of Special Olympics Illinois, said ahead of the race that the derby has become a meaningful annual tradition for the organization and the athletes it serves. “It really is a fantastic day for our athletes,” Beale-DelVecchio said, speaking near the riverside staging area where derby attendees mingled with inflatable ducks and danced along to a live DJ set before the ducks were released.

Thursday’s turnout marked a significant jump from the prior year’s event, when roughly 75,000 rubber ducks were released into the river, itself described at the time as the largest Ducky Derby release in the event’s history. That 2025 edition raised more than $330,000 for Special Olympics Illinois, according to figures reported following that event, meaning this year’s total represents more than double the prior year’s fundraising haul. Kyle Tuckey, who served as the Ducky Derby ambassador during the 2025 event, had described his own involvement with Special Olympics in similarly personal terms at the time, calling the experience “life changing” and crediting the organization with shaping who he had become.

The Ducky Derby has grown steadily since its 2005 debut, evolving from a modest charity race into one of Chicago’s most recognizable annual philanthropic events, drawing sponsorship support from local businesses including Jewel-Osco in past years. The event’s format, in which sponsors “adopt” individually numbered rubber ducks that are then released en masse to race downriver toward a finish line, has become a model replicated in similar duck-race fundraisers held in cities across the country, though Chicago’s version has grown into one of the largest of its kind by both duck count and total funds raised.

Beyond the immediate spectacle of tens of thousands of rubber ducks racing down one of Chicago’s most iconic waterways, organizers say the event’s core purpose remains focused on the athletes it supports, funding programming that allows Special Olympics Illinois to continue offering free competitions and training opportunities to athletes with disabilities across the state. With this year’s event setting a new fundraising record, organizers indicated they hope to continue building on that momentum in future years as the Ducky Derby approaches its third decade as a fixture of Chicago’s summer charity calendar.