Bucks County Teens Compete In World Jump Rope Championships

NEW HOPE, PA — New Hope-Solebury ninth-grade student Zach Peckman was among two Bucks County teens to earn a spot at the 2023 World Jump Rope Championships held at the Ed Robson Arena in Colorado Springs in July.

As part of the U.S. National Jump Rope Team, Peckman competed in five events, including Speed Sprint, Speed Endurance, and a mixed pair event called “Wheel” with teammate Bree Hall. Peckman and Hall are both members of Zero Gravity, a competitive jump rope team, which recently became affiliated with the Doylestown YMCA.

Peckman was a top scorer in the individual Speed Sprint (30 seconds in length) and Speed Endurance (3 minute) events at regional and national competitions, enabling him to qualify for the U.S. junior team and compete at the World Championships.

Zach Peckman competes in Colorado.

In speed events, the competitors seek to complete the most jumps within the allotted time. Peckman was among 1,200 athletes representing 27 countries competing at the World Championships. He performed a personal best in both of his individual events, recording amongst the highest scores by a U.S. junior male athlete, year-to-date.

Peckman also competed in freestyle events, which evaluate competitors for jump rope routines, much akin to the floor exercises in gymnastics. To qualify for the “Wheel” event, Peckman and Hall were ranked third in the United States following a series of regional qualifiers in the under 16 division.

Peckman’s first introduction to jump rope happened in New Hope-Solebury’s elementary schools, where he had the opportunity to see a local jump rope team of older students perform in an assembly. He then had the chance to try it out himself by joining the school’s Jump Rope Club, a morning extracurricular activity run by physical education teacher, Jim DiTulio.

Being inspired by those other children jumping on stage at that assembly, Peckman soon became one of them. He joined a local exhibition team, the Bungee Jumpers, that hosted school assemblies in the area and was featured in half-time shows in major arenas, including the Wells Fargo Center and Madison Square Garden.

When the exhibition team folded during the pandemic, Peckman found Zero Gravity, and began jumping competitively.

This is how it looked in July at the World Championships.

“It is challenging because it takes a long time to develop your skills, to see improvement, and to build endurance,” said Peckman. “Once you do, it’s very rewarding.”

In the coming year, Peckman will continue to compete in regional competitions and has the World Championship of 2025 in his sights, which will be held in Kawasaki, Japan.

“I would love to be a world champion someday and hopefully jump rope will be an Olympic sport in 2028, but right now I’m working really hard to become the junior national champion next year.”

For now, both Peckman and his father, Marcus, shared the excitement and energy of being part of the World Championship event.

“Going to the World Championships was nothing like I’d ever seen. Where else would you, in the span of ten minutes, talk to someone from Japan, Taipei, Hong Kong, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Austria? When I was lined up with Zach for his Speed Sprint heat, it was so exciting to be standing with all of these great athletes from around the world,” said Marcus Peckman.

He continued, “We’re so proud of Zach because this was 100 percent his own motivation. He’s trained really hard for it and it was a thrill. As a parent, you couldn’t be prouder.”