Typically thought of as a playground pastime or training exercise for boxers, jump rope is, in fact, an established sport with competitions at the national, world and Junior Olympic levels. And, elite jump rope has a growing presence in the Bay Area. (Story continues below.)
[youtube]M-Dwc5tdHME[/youtube]
One competitive jump rope team, Sol Jumpers in Santa Clara, has existed for more than 30 years. Now, four Stanford students have formed a university level jump rope club, The Propellers. They hope Stanford will become a hub for the sport, which includes 10 different competitive events, from speed and power jumping to freestyle routines choreographed to music and performed in individual, synchronized pairs or double dutch configurations.
Some of the Stanford jumpers took their sport to one of the university’s product design classes and manufactured new equipment, from a double-dutch rope turner that attaches to a pole or tree, to a rope that lights up for night jumping demonstrations.
In this video, Stanford jumper Agatha Bacelar takes us into the world of competitive jump rope.
