Ping-pong balls, kiddie pools and puzzles sound like innocent childhood fun -- unless they are all part of the Springville Survivor Challenge.

Six teams from around Springville competed Friday night in pool challenges ranging from piecing together puzzles from clues across the pool to trying to fill opponents' kiddie pools full of water -- and perhaps drown the contestant sitting in the makeshift raft.

In one competition, teams tried to keep their plastic pool from sinking while a teammate sat inside throwing out water. The other teams spent their time throwing buckets of water into the makeshift boat. The teams fought to keep their boat afloat the longest, while fans in the audience cheered them on with green flags, yellow towels, blue faces and any thing they could find to represent their team's color.

The teams also had some direction from "Survivor: China" cast members, including Pleasant Grove native and "Survivor" winner Todd Herzog. Along with Herzog, cast mates Erik Huffman, Jaime Dugan, Frosti Zernow and Courtney Yates were on hand to assist with the competition.

"Tonight we're moral support, but tomorrow we're participating," Dugan said.

Yates said the former cast members were excited to be in Utah for the event and to be together again. None of them have seen each other since the show, and Herzog is the only member to have been in Utah before.

Herzog said he created all of the events used in the different challenges, and he said Friday's pool challenge would be difficult for the teams, as it was for Huffman during the show.

"If we can keep everyone from injuring themselves, we're good," Huffman said.

The survivors will help the teams today, but Herzog said they will not play favorites. The teams need to be prepared to do well on their own, because the survivors will not be giving away the wins.

"It's just a lot of moral support, a lot of hints and tips," Herzog said.

The teams did not need much help Friday night, scraping their way to some hard-fought wins. Some blood was even drawn in one of the night's toughest challenges, in which teams tried to steal objects from their opponents. Some of the objects' guardians were simply carried away by opponents who stole the item, while other thieves had to battle four or five team members protecting an item.

Jessica Rogers, a Springville resident on the black team, said her team was always the one that almost won the challenge. The team came in second in the stealing challenge.

"We did pretty good," she said. "Our team's really competitive, so we just need to work together."

Tammy Daybell went to the event to watch her brother-in-law, Jason Gwilliam, who jumped on the green team Thursday at the last minute. Daybell said she enjoyed the event, which she thought would be easier than it was.

"It's kind of a fun thing, because everyone watches 'Survivor,' and you think, 'I could do that,' " she said.

The remaining challenges will take place at 1 p.m. today at Jolley's Ranch and at 7 p.m. tonight at the Spring Acres Arts Park, 620 S. 1350 East, Springville. The "Ultimate Survivor" will be named at 9:30 p.m. at the Arts Park.