Most goldfish spend their time swimming in circles but Swimbappé has higher ambitions: to accurately predict as many FIFA World Cup matches as possible.
From a 75-gallon tank in downtown Toronto, located at the intersection of Wellington and John streets, the brightly coloured goldfish has taken on the unlikely title of oracle.
So far, the aquatic pundit has been surprisingly successful. As of Thursday morning, Swimbappé has made predictions for 24 matches and achieved an accuracy rate of around 80 per cent, according to one of his handlers.
He correctly picked winners in about half of those games, missed three, and the remaining matches ended in draws.
“He’s trying his best,” Tim Glenn, one of the creative minds behind Swimbappé and creative director of One Method, told CTV News Toronto in an interview on Thursday afternoon, adding that they may eventually train him to predict draws.
The birth of Swimbappé
Aquatic oracles aren’t exactly new in the world of FIFA.
The most famous example is Paul the Octopus, who famously predicted the winner of several matches at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, including the final. His divinations earned him international acclaim.
But Toronto has yet to have an oracle of its own.
Glenn said he and his team wanted to participate in the World Cup that would engage not only Torontonians but also those visiting the city for the tournament.
They had toyed around with putting out tissue boxes to dry the tears of the losing team, but then they landed on an “oracle goldfish.”
Then came the question of what to name him.
Some suggestions were straightforward, like Gary. One contender was Finaldo.
“Then someone said Swimbappé and I was like, ‘Yep, that’s perfect,’ and I think it really suits him,” Glenn said, noting how the goldfish was named after French professional footballer Kylian Mbappé.
It was a bit of a challenge to set up the fish tank on the building’s main floor, as Glenn said it weighs about 650 pounds when filled with water.
“It was one of those moments where, on paper, when I pitched the idea, it was a single slide in a deck, and then it’s like, OK, now we have to like buy a 75-gallon fish tank,” Glenn said, noting how they had to measure out the office’s front window and construct a sturdy enough structure to support the tank.
“It’s right up against the window, so there was a lot of that kind of coordination.”
A fish, a tank and 104 predictions
The orange oracle is expected to predict the outcome of all 104 matches of the World Cup, turning a downtown fish tank into an unusual sporting attraction in the city.
On Thursday morning, Glenn said they hosted a live prediction ahead of the Canada game against Qatar—an event the 36-year-old called nerve-racking. The goldfish, ultimately, called for Canada to win.
While there was a good turnout of soccer fans to see Swimbappé’s predictions in real-time, Glenn said many people have stopped by to say hello to the goldfish.
“There’s also an absolutely giant sign with a goldfish in a soccer jersey, so people are naturally kind of (like), ‘What is that? What’s going on?’ and they walk closer, and it’s like, ‘Oh, there’s an actual fish tank,’” Glenn said. “The fan reception has been great.”
Soccer fans can expect more live predictions from Swimbappé throughout the tournament, Glenn said, and perhaps even have a say in what should happen with the “fluid installation.”
“It’s everybody’s, want it to kind of evolve and change over the course of the tournament, and people can kind of really input and affect the installation as time goes on,” Glenn said.
As for what will happen to Swimbappé after the World Cup ends, Glenn says he will likely become the office’s mascot and spend his retirement there.
