DEL MAR -- For 13-year-old Clay Anderson of Temecula, the challenge of putting on an icy T-shirt was a whole lot harder than it looked.

Clay was one of a dozen teens competing in a Frozen T-shirt Contest held Tuesday at the San Diego County Fair. Competitors were given five minutes or less to put on a fair shirt that had been soaked in water, then frozen in a plastic bag for two days.

His hands still rigid with cold after a winner was declared, Anderson -- whose father is a Marine -- said he was surprised at how difficult the task turned out to be.

"It's freezing," he said, referring to his body as well as the shirt.

More on the 2009 San Diego County Fair

The contest is held three times throughout the course of the fair, which ends July 5. The last Frozen T-shirt Contest for the 2009 season is set for July 4th, said special event organizers.

On Tuesday, contestants used a variety of inventive tactics to get their shirts supple enough to pull it over their heads.

San Diego resident Steven Hannibal, who brought home the first-place ribbon on Tuesday, whacked the frozen bundle on the ground to get it to defrost.

Others used the shirts to wipe down the stage floor. Some punched them. A few even tucked them under an armpit.

"I think the kid who put it under his shirt should have been the one to win," said Escondido resident Diane Hillman, who came to watch the contest with her two grandchildren who are visiting from Wisconsin. "That was a valiant effort."

Before the contest began, Steven's mother, Becky Hannibal, said she hoped a least one of her children would be chosen to compete. She has 11 children and brought nine to the fair on Tuesday.

"They were fascinated about how to get it to thaw," she said.

"When we were walking over here, they all wanted to walk in the sun -- not in the shade -- so they would be warmer," she added. "I told them they would be warm enough."

Special events supervisor Jeff Hamby, who emceed Tuesday's event on the Infield Stage, said the contest is always one of the most popular at the fair.

"We had the first Frozen T-shirt Contest last weekend, when we had a little rain, and people still loved it," Hamby said. "They come back for it every year."

All contest participants went home with a free fair T-shirt, albeit wet and rumpled.