A pandemic doesn’t mean a Heritage Pointe athlete had to skip out on a world championship.
Katelyn Starr, 16, finished first overall in the 16-plus females masters category in the virtual Rope Skipping Canada championships -- despite her having to go against older competitors.
“It is basically a world qualifying event,” said Starr, who attends high school in Calgary. “To qualify for the worlds you need to be 16 or over, so my first in Canada was for every female 16 and up."
She will now represent Canada at the world championships, competing for her country in the single rope individual freestyle, single rope speed, single rope speed endurance and single rope triple endurance. Starr will be paired up for the single rope pairs freestyle.
She said her best event is the single rope individual freestyle routine, which she won at nationals.
“You do a one-minute, 15 second routine and they judge your difficulty and presentation,” Starr said. “You have to have tricks and you are doing it to music as well.”
Her tricks have her dazzling the judges with speed, balance and as much as possible during an exhausting routine, a smile of composure on her face.
“My routine is also multiples,” Starr said. “There are triple-unders, so the rope goes under my feet three times (during one jump) and there are different variations, that you can add in as well.”
During the speed competition, she set a provincial speed record for 15 to 17 years old at 88 jumps in 30 seconds – breaking her own provincial record of 85.5. She finished second overall at nationals in the speed competition.
“They count every right foot – it would be about 170 if they counted every foot,” Starr explained. “You are kind of running in place, but it is easier for the judges if you just count the right foot.”
She also showed she has endurance, finishing eighth in the speed endurance with 371 jumps. It’s a lung-burner.
“It is basically how fast you can go in this three-minute time period,” Starr said.
The world championships are being held virtually this year due to COVID-19. Starr must submit her entries by Aug. 31. The results will be released in October.
She has been practicing her routines throughout the summer. She is also hitting the gym to improve her endurance.
Although she is a provincial record-holder in speed, she believes her best results will come in the freestyle events.
“The Chinese do really well in speed,” Starr said. “So, I am trying to put my best foot forward for my freestyle routine.
“I have been working on getting my difficulty score as high as I can.”
Starr will have a partner for single rope pairs freestyle. The competition has two athletes skipping individual side-by-side and the pair are judged as a unit.
Starr got interested in competitive skipping after participating at a Jump Rope for Heart event while in elementary school. She jumped in with both feet, shortly thereafter joining the Team Skip Time recreation program.
“I like how it is unique to any other sport – there are so many different aspects to it,” Starr said. “And there is a team aspect as well.”
The hard work she put into experiencing her first taste of worlds, has her wanting more in 2022.
“All the training I am doing is in hopes of an in-person competition next year,” Starr said.
