Student shows Hopkins the ropes

Whenever she decides to visit the Hopkins Athletic Center, it doesn't take long for freshman Wren Haaland to get down to business. After swiping her J-Card, she walks briskly towards the basketball courts.

Once she finds a suitable space, she efficiently unpacks the contents of her Nike athletic bag and lays out three coils of rope on the floor. After a brief contemplative pause, she selects a white plastic jump rope and begins skipping innocently in the right-hand corner of the Rec. Center basketball court.

Haaland starts out harmlessly enough. The way she jumps is reminiscent of the games carried out on grade school playgrounds, of white Keds on black asphalt and of carefree childhood innocence. But gradually, it's noticeable that she has more than just a love for fifth grade recess antics. As Haaland jumps rhythmically, she throws in an occasional side swing, so quick that you would miss it by blinking. With further observation, it's noticeable that on some jumps, she stays off the ground longer. The rope hits the ground one, two or three times before her feet do. Basketball players on the adjacent court begin to stare curiously at Haaland, her rope now a white blur, whirring around her body with each swing.

In addition to being a freshman at Hopkins, Wren Haaland is a competitive rope skipper.

Despite its connotation of being a childhood pastime, the sport of competitive rope skipping is a reality. "When I tell people that I jump rope, they usually say 'Oh, really? Do you say rhymes too?'" said Haaland. "But once they see it, they know it's an intense physical activity."

Rope skipping is very similar to gymnastics. Many of the complex maneuvers and expert-level tricks in skipping require back flips, front handsprings and handstands. One of the moves Haaland executes efficiently is a push-up move. It involves getting into a normal push up stance, launching her body from the ground and pulling the rope out from underneath so she ends in an upright rope skipping position. For her routines, Haaland combines three to four intricate moves into one fluid motion.

There are three main events in jump rope competitions -- freestyle, speed and power. In freestyle, jumpers must perform a 45 to 75 second routine. Judges grade on footwork, strength moves (like push ups), multiple "unders" and rope releases. Freestyle can be split into single, partner and double-dutch categories. For speed competitions, jumpers must see how many revolutions they can fit into a one-minute interval (320 revolutions is considered a good score). In power competitions, jumpers perform as many triple-unders (three revolutions without touching the ground) as they can. Haaland's record is 116 triple-unders.

Currently, Haaland practices three to four days per week by the racquetball courts in the Athletic Center. She says she practiced more in her hometown of Chapel Hill, N.C., where she participated in SkipSations, a local jumping team. Over the past few years, they have won multiple awards on the regional, national and international level.

As team captain, Haaland led SkipSations to many victories. This past year at the AAU Junior Olympics, Haaland and her partner, Anna Schimmelfing, received a gold medal for their synchronized performance. Last year, Haaland's team traveled to Tallebudgera, Australia to compete in the World Championships for rope skipping. SkipSations received a silver medal in the team category, narrowly losing the gold to a formidable Hungarian team.

"The Hungarian teams are incredible," said Haaland. "They train so much over there."

And Hungarian jump rope teams are only a small part of the equation. Every year, rope skipping is becoming a bigger international sport. Teams have popped up all over the United States as well as in many other countries including Germany and Taiwan. As part of SkipSations, Haaland has traveled everywhere from Belgium to Dollywood, Tenn.

And in all the places she's traveled, Haaland has noted that the sport of jump rope is steadily growing. United States Amateur Jump Rope Federation (USAJRF) national competitions, which used to be quaint annual competitions, now take place at the Wide World of Sports Complex in Disneyworld. Jump rope techniques have also evolved since the early days of the sport.

"You can always make up crazy tricks, especially if you're really brave," said Haaland. "Jump rope keeps getting more and more daring."

With new assisted aerials and flying acrobatics, routines are becoming more than just mere rope tricks -- they are becoming stunts that seem to defy gravity.

As the players on the basketball courts begin to wind down their games, dark patches of sweat forming on their backs, Haaland's practice is just beginning. Now that there is a free racquetball court, she can train for her individual routine with a little more privacy.

She stands in the middle of the white-walled room, skipping methodically, throwing in the occasional cross over and triple under. Passers-by take time out from their workout routines to watch Wren as her rope whips furiously around her arms and legs, her face twisted in determination and her feet levitating off the ground.