16-year-old Zach Peckman used ’80s music to become a U.S. jump rope champ. Now he’s in Japan to face the world.

A sped-up version of Kim Wilde’s “Kids in America” can typically be heard playing through 16-year-old Zach Peckman’s Bluetooth headphones. The bass of the electric guitar, the high-hat of the drums, the electric piano, and the catchy hook of the popular ’80s song are perfect tools for Peckman when it comes to keeping track of what’s important: his jump-rope pace.

Thanks to hard work — and a little bit of Kim Wilde — the New Hope-Solebury High School student earned the title of Grand National Champion earlier this summer, and set a U.S. record in the single-rope speed endurance event.

“Because I had the song in my ear and I had my dad telling me my scores, the second I finished, I had a feeling that I got the record,” Peckman said. “And I was elated because I had put in so much work, not just that year, but for the past three years training several days a week. So, having all of my hard work pay off was just the most rewarding feeling ever.”

Now, a month after breaking the record, Peckman will represent the United States in Kawasaki, Japan, in both the single-rope sprint and endurance events at the 2025 World Jump Rope Championships, held from Sunday through Aug. 3.

“It’s a little bit nerve-wracking to be with the best people,” Peckman said. “But it’s such an amazing feeling. I know that I’ve worked so hard to be able to do this.”

Peckman’s introduction to jump roping was similar to that of many other young students. He began learning in kindergarten through a program called Jump Rope for Heart, starting with the basics of jumping. It wasn’t until the jump roping performance team, known as the Bungee Jumpers, held a show during a school assembly, that Peckman realized he wanted to get more involved.

“It was just so different from anything that I’d ever seen before,” he said. “It just amazed me.
I had only ever seen basic skills. So, seeing them do like a combination of gymnastic skills and multiple single-, double-, and triple-unders, I just thought it was really cool.”

“I feel very proud and really honored to be there helping him ... it’s brought us closer together.”

After joining the Bungee Jumpers, Peckman started developing an interest in the competitive side of jump roping. In 2021, he joined Zero Gravity, a competitive and performance jump rope team. The team currently has seven members, competing in different disciplines such as single-rope and double-Dutch freestyle.

Throughout the year, they practice together three times a week. But that’s not enough for Peckman, who trains outside of team practice an extra three or four days with his dad, Marcus.

“I feel very proud and really honored to be there helping him,” his father said. “He’s a coach’s dream because he’s like the hardest worker and it’s brought us closer together. We watch jump rope videos together, look at the best jumpers around the world and what they’re doing. Learn how to tweak his form, how to build strength, endurance, and speed.

“You need twitch speed, which is a difficult speed to build, especially for the 30-second speed event, which is kind of like the 100-yard dash of jump roping.”

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In order to achieve the desired results, Peckman does a combination of speed and strength training, incorporating weights into his conditioning and running to work on his cardio. The rising junior also includes a number of stretches to work on his flexibility and avoid injuries.

Peckman started to notice his practice was paying off when he set a personal record at last year’s American Jump Rope National Championships. During the endurance speed event, he reached a score of 457 rotations — 58 below where he is today — making it the first time he qualified for the Grand National Championships.

“That was my first time qualifying for Grand and I ended up getting second place,” Peckman said. “So, I had the second overall high score and that was such an amazing feeling at the time. But, now it’s crazy that I’m way past that.”

“I really enjoy listening to music and creating music myself ... it really helps calm me down and bring me to a different place.”

At this year’s Grand National Championships, Peckman didn’t finish second.

Instead, he earned the top spot in the single-rope speed endurance, posting a U.S. record of 515 rotations and surpassing the previous record of 509. In the 30-second sprint event, Peckman also set a U.S. record for athletes under 18, scoring 102 and finishing tied for second, three rotations behind the winner.

Ahead of the championships, Peckman had his eyes on the three-minute record — and knew had an idea how to get there. One of his favorite training routines incorporates his passion for music.

“When I’m actually jumping, what I’ll do is I jump to a song,” Peckman said. “So I wear like a Bluetooth headphone in one of my ears, and I speed that song up to a certain pace so that I know if I jump just to that beat, I’ll be able to hold the pace and get a certain score.”

Peckman had his song. He just needed to find the right pace.

“I had really looked into what the top scores were,” he said. “And I saw that their previous record was 509, and I was telling myself that I knew I could do that. So, I set the song to a speed where I knew that if I held it, I would break the record.”

Peckman’s love of music extends well beyond its jump roping benefits. He is first chair violin and concertmaster of the New Hope-Solebury Orchestra and first chair viola in the Youth Orchestra of Bucks County. He’s been playing the viola since third grade and just picked up the violin about two years ago.

Peckman manages to make time for both activities, balancing his love for music with his love for jumping. In a way, his music helps distract from the pressure of jumping rope competitively.

“I really enjoy listening to music and creating music myself,” he said. “I would say it definitely helps distract me while I’m jumping. As if it brings me to another place because when I’m in this big arena and I have all this pressure, I get really worried that I’m going to mess up. But having the music in my ears, it really helps calm me down and bring me to a different place.”

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When watching Peckman compete, you’ll barely see the rope — but you will notice his form. He jumps with a slight bend at his hips, and according to his father, there’s a reason for it.

“That’s kind of a new thing,” Marcus Peckman said.
”It’s just been happening over the last 10 years, but there’s a science to it. If you can make your body small, then you could use a shorter rope. And if you use a shorter rope, the rope doesn’t have to travel as far for each circumference that’s going around your body.

“We kind of get immersed into the science of it and try to figure out ways to improve.”

His form has changed quite a lot from when he first started. The 5-foot-7 teenager leans over when he’s jumping to replicate some of the advantages his shorter competitors may have, especially those from China and Korea, who Peckman says are typically known as some of the best jumpers in the world.

“I’m just shocked at how much my form has changed,” Peckman said. “Just looking back and forth, it looks like I’m going so slow in comparison in the previous videos.”

“I’m looking forward to doing my events, but I’m mainly looking forward to just seeing so many amazing people from all these countries.”

This week, Peckman will once again grab his headphones and queue up “Kids in America,” as he prepares to compete in the 2025 World Jump Rope Championships in Japan.

The event will feature more than 2,000 athletes from more than 30 countries. Peckman will compete in four single-rope male speed events, including two relays as well as the single-rope speed sprint and endurance competitions.

Despite the pressure of performing in front of the fans, Peckman enjoys the positivity of the jump roping community.

“That’s something I love so much about the sport,” he said. “Everyone, even people from other teams, are all so encouraging of each other. Sometimes I see one person go out and jump or do a routine or something, and then once they run off, they start cheering for someone who they’re competing against. So, it’s really an amazing community, which is one of the reasons I love the sport so much.”

And this won’t be Peckman’s first experience in the biennial world championships. He competed in the 2023 event in Colorado Springs as part of the Junior U.S. team.

“I’m looking forward to doing my events, but I’m mainly looking forward to just seeing so many amazing people from all these countries,” he said. “I remember I went to the world championships last time in Colorado and it felt like I was at the Olympics.


“It was the most amazing, insane feeling to be surrounded by thousands of athletes from like 30 different countries. It’s just an amazing feeling. So, I’m really excited to see so many athletes.”