South East CDC Skipping Challenge,
28 Oct to 20 Dec 2009
The Jumping Jewels managed to be at 5 skipping challenge venues to
support this charity drive. Twice we were delayed elsewhere
and could not make it. Hope to encourage the rope skipping community to
come together at these times to help less fortunate people. At the
Marine Parade skipping challenge venue we found out that the ropes used
where toy skipping ropes with a plastic counter in one handle. A
dubious counting method but it was for charity so using a $2 toy rope
cuts down cost hiring certified or experience counters.
We gave 2 impromptu performances to help the
event by providing some relevant entertainment. At the first SingPost
Skipping Challenge we performed a fusion double dutch routine outside
the front door of SingPost as it had just rained and the floor outside
was wet. Odd place to perform but it was great for attracting attention
to the skipping challenge. At the second SingPost challenge the
organizer announced us as the best
rope skipping team on the island. We did an 8 person synchronize
routine
together with Xin Ru and Mimi.
We went to the finale/overnight 12 hour marathon skipping challenge
starting at 10pm on 19 Dec which will end with the closing ceremony for
the challenge at 10am on 20 Dec morning.
This event was at Simei CC which is three bus stops from Rope
Skipping
Singapore. Reached at about 10.15pm and started skipping at 11pm.
Manual counting this time but by layman counters because the rope
handle counters are not accurate the organzers said. Evon skipped
10,005 in 50 minutes according to her manual counter.
Just before 11pm it was announced that there would be a one hour speed
competition tomorrow morning from 8.15am that would be a Singapore Book
Of Records (SBOR) entry. Left about 1am in the morning and came back
that morning just before 8am for the one hour speed contest. The
fastest was Aloysius. All the four Jumping Jewels were just behind him.
Yes, it is the same Aloysius whose father called the Jumping Jewels
dogs at the Turf
club last month.
The counters on the rope count up to 999 and then resets to 0 so each
skippers had someone standing infront of him holding a second rope to
switch every 5 minutes. Ariel's toy rope broke twice in a row and so
Rachel next to her grabbed her second toy rope from the floor and gave
it
to her. Amy's rope broke 3 times and Rachel's rope broke twice.
Singapore is the only country that toy ropes are used for
national rope skipping records.
Ariel was totally exhausted from the contest as we where unprepared for
this gruelling record attempt because we found out only 9 hours before.
Only 4 members of the public came for this SBOR contest, school teacher
Lee Lay Eng and 3 of her ex-primary school rope skippers one of which
is Aloysius. We spoke to the organizer, Kenneth, a week before offering
to
perform at the closing ceremony
and Ong of SBOR two weeks ago. They did not mention this SBOR contest.
You would think we would
hear about this SBOR contest especially when we had already skipped at
4 skipping challenge venues (the last one week ago) and Rope
Skipping Singapore is 3 bus
stops from Simei CC.
Snapshot of skipping challenge
at
Marine Parade Promenade on 7th Nov.
The family Jewels setting out to Marine Parade for our first in a
series of skipping challenges for charity. The
other Jewels mistakenly went to Marina Square instead.
.
Evon just came back from the International Double Dutch Championship in
Paris this morning and still wearing her red IDDC T-shirt. She is
enquiring about the format of the skipping challenge.
The boss man of the agency running the skipping challenge looking on.
Skipped outside a coffee shop next to Marine Parade.
Wishes to the poor that the rice is going to. Skip just 20 times and a
bowl of rice will be donated to poor people by the sponsor. The kiddy
ropes
used by the charity drive had counters on one of the
plastic handle which was used to keep score of the number of skips. A
novice way of counting even for a charity drive.
The sponsor also gave away one sample bottle of cooking oil to the
skipper. Brilliant.
Snapshot
of skipping challenge at SingPost on 18 Nov.
Skipping Challenge infront of the Post Office entrance which is
sheltered from the rain that day.
Recording the number of skips counted by the rope handle counter.
Placing ropes on the floor to perform and our fusion double dutch
performance providing entertainment after we skipped for charity.
Snapshot
of skipping challenge at SingPost on 25 Nov.
Skipping in shaded area behind everybody on this sunny day. Paya Lebar
train station in the background.
Entertaining with our 8 skipper synchronized routine which covered
the whole skipping challenge area. They organizer announced us as the
best rope skipping team on the island.
Can you see we are singing the song. An interesting performance style
we use sometimes.
Another day out for the Jumping Jewels and friends.
Snapshot
of skipping challenge at East Coast Park on 12 Dec.
There was nobody skipping except us. There was also no signage for the
skipping challenge displayed. Skipped in the shaded area near the beach.
Recording our score but there was no cooking oil left for our skipping
this
time
Some of the Jewels have never come to this East Coast beach before so
spent about 40 minutes here to soak in nature.
Snapshot
of skipping challenge at Simei CC on 19th
Dec.
Just arrived at Simei Community Center excited to be part of this
overnight marathon skipping challenge.
Registering and we found out it would be manual counting because the
handles where not accurate they said.
Warming up as we where sitting in this airconditioned hall for awhle.
Roger the first to start.
We started at about 11pm. The SBOR contest was announced while we where
skipping. If we had known before we started, perhaps we would not have
skipped at all this night and save our energy for the morning contest.
We skipped about 24,000 skips this night.
Evon with her counter who counted her 50 minutes skip at 10, 005. The
second highest in a single jump for the whole skipping challenge?
The night shift going home at 1am to get a few hour sleep for the SBOR
skipping record contest in 7 hours time.
Snapshot
of skipping challenge SBOR
contest at Simei CC on 20th
Dec.
Roger was first to skip for rice on the morning of 20 Dec 2009.
The organizers briefing the rope switchers. It was back to rope handle
counters that they said where not accurate last night. Originally, they
planned to
switch every 10 minutes then someone asked our coach how long it would
take to reach 1000 skips. The switch then became every 5 minutes. A
time-keeper would blow a whistle and skipping ropes would be exchanged
between contestant and switcher.
3 Jumping Jewels along the windows. Pei Shi came 5 minutes after the
contest started just before 10.30am.
Lee Lay Eng in red adidas and her 3 ex-students and curiously in light
blue are the people from the company hired to run the event. The
two parties came at the same time just before the SBOR contest was
scheduled to begin.
Several people wanted photos of us right after the SBOR contest. Ariel
gave it her all and needed to be propped up.
The 2 million target was reach as projected here on the stage. In this
12
hour marathon alone the Jumping Jewels contributed about 63,000 skips
of the official total count of 367,003 skips over the 12 hours.
Everybody at the closing ceremony with the Mayor. After this our coach
had to carry Ariel to the bus stop and again when we got off the bus at
Rope Skipping Singapore.
Skipping Challenge in the news on
20th Dec.
The news reader said at the end, 'you can be sure of no double counting
as the skipping ropes came with monitors'.
Skipping Challenge poster
Jumping Jewels
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