A former pupil of Hills Academy and multiple Guinness world record holder returned to his alma mater this month to attempt to add another skipping world record to his collection.
Pete Thompson, who has legally changed his name to Skip, returned to his old school to aim to record the most consecutive double under crossovers and claim the world record.
The founder of ‘The Skipping Ninja’, Skip delivers superhero-themed skipping workshops for children in schools throughout the county.
As part of Hills Academy’s Health Week, the children completed a range of activities, culminating with the Skipping Ninja workshop, where they were encouraged to jump, skip and think about how exercise and skipping can give you superhero feelings, thoughts and dynamic movements.
At the morning assembly on 7 March, Skip prepared to go where no other ninja skipper had gone before and break the 400 barrier for the double under cross, also known as ‘DUX’, which he says is one of the most elusive and sought-after movements in the skipping world.
“It is one of the toughest skills to complete accurately at speed and in these kinds of volumes,” explained Skip.
“One of my closest competitors from India recorded a maximum score of 180 unbroken and the current world record is 362.”
The challenge is just one of the world records Skip has planned for 2025 – the year he turns 40.
“All the challenges involve the numbers 4 and 0, staring with 400 double crosses, 4,000 single crosses and a massive 40-hour skip,’ he said.
At the record-attempt assembly, the children cheered on, shouting, “Skip, Skip, Skip” in time with the rope.
The official attempt was counted by independent witnesses and timekeepers, and after a review of slow-motion footage, a score of 408 achieved in a time frame of four minutes 17 seconds was announced to the excited audience.
“It was a great honour to return to the school I went to as a child, to give the children this opportunity and put a show for them,” said Skip after the successful attempt.
“I completed gymnastics and multi skills in this very hall, so I’m really excited to be here today and demonstrate this skill.”
Describing breaking the world record, Skip said: “Wow, that was incredible, it couldn’t really have gone better than that. It felt like it
wasn’t real, everything went into slow motion and it wasn’t me doing it.
“The children clapping and cheering was a special experience, I even switched into timing the jump and cross with the children’s claps and cheering, but that’s what you want from an event like this, whole school impact and involvement’.
Following the successful world record, Skip ran ninja skipping skill sessions for the whole school, teaching 60 children simultaneously from each year group.
Children were awarded with ninja headbands, skipping ropes and full ninja suits for showing creativity, determination or high skill level, with Skip crowning the children the “ninjas of the school”.
The PE lead at Hills said: “I honestly can’t thank Skip enough for the workshop today. It was the most exciting assembly for the children, and they have been buzzing right from the assembly all the way through the day and into the skill sessions.
“It really has had a great impact across the wider community of the school, and we will have the Skipping Ninja back soon.”
