Zach Peckman, a 16-year-old jump rope champion from New Hope, was introduced to the sport in kindergarten during the Jump Rope for Heart fitness program. But after seeing a gymnastics-style jumping group perform at a school assembly, he realized his love for the sport went even deeper.
“From then on, I told myself, ‘I want to be on a team one day’ and started training,” Peckman said. “So since then, I’ve been really passionate about it.”
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A decade later, Peckman now practices 12 hours a week, is a member of a team called Fear of Gravity and holds two national records in speed jumping. And last week, he got the chance to show his skills on the international stage, competing in the International Jump Rope Union’s 2025 World Jump Rope Championships in Kawasaki, Japan.
Peckman didn’t qualify for the finals in any of his events. But he finished 12th in the single rope speed endurance event, which measures the number of times a competitor’s right food hits the ground during a three-minute period. His 510 rotations were the most of any American male. The competitors who scored higher were all from China and Korea.
Peckman also was part of a team that finished eighth in the single rope speed relay, in which four relay team members each jump for 30 seconds.
The competition was worthwhile, he said, because he got to meet — and compete against — so many athletes that he admires.
“The main thing that I got out of it was inspiration. I got to meet the people that I look up to and it’s really inspiring to see them,” Peckman said. “But also I got to observe some of the best people’s form, and it really is going to be helpful, I think, with my training to try to replicate what they do so that I can be at the top level of it.”
Peckman, who also is a concert master in the New Hope-Solebury High School Orchestra and first-chair viola in the Youth Orchestra of Bucks County, trains six days a week in jumping. His workouts include speed exercises, strength training and flexibility exercises. For instance, he practices with a weighted rope and speed jumps for longer than three minutes to build his endurance.
It’s paid off so far. In June, he competed in the American Jump Rope Federation’s national championships in South Dakota, where he set a U.S. record for three-minute speed with 515 rotations.
He also tied for second place in the single rope speed sprint with an athlete from the University of Maryland. His 102 rotations in 30 seconds were a U.S. record for competitors 18 years old and under.
For Peckman, his love for jumping is partially rooted in seeing his own progress. He enjoys challenging himself and practicing to get better — and then seeing that reflected in his score. But it’s also about the camaraderie.
“It’s just such a rewarding feeling when I put in a lot of work for a couple months and the scores increase so much,” Peckman said. “But another thing that I love about it so much is the community. I love how everyone cheers each other on, and you can be at a competition and you’re competing against someone else and as you’re going they’re cheering for you. It’s just such a great feeling.”
From here, Peckman will begin training for the 2026 national championships, held next summer. He said he hopes to compete again in the next world competition in Oslofjord, Norway, in 2027. He’s already set a number of ambitious goals for himself, including making the top six and trying to get his speed score up from 515 to 540 rotations.
But his ultimate dream is to be an Olympiad. Though jump rope is not currently an Olympic sport, Peckman’s father, Marc Peckman, sits on the International Jump Rope Union committee that is trying to the sport added to the Olympics.
“Our goal is to get jump rope into the Olympics by 2032 in Brisbane, Australia,” Peckman said. “So it would be amazing if I could be in that.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
