By REYNALD MAGALLON
Ryan Alonzo, known as the "Skipman" in the jump rope community, successfully beat the previous record in most double under skips in 12 hours last October 2. He smashed the previous 20,000 double-under skip record and doubled it down with his own 40,980 double under skips.
But believe it or not, Alonzo only started to take the skip ropes seriously a year ago, when the pandemic began to be exact. Only looking for ways to stay fit amid the Enhanced Community Quarantine, Alonzo picked up his jump ropes and started taking videos of himself during his workout routines.
He uploaded the videos on his Instagram account, which has the same handle as his nickname ‘the skipman’ and discovered the jump rope community in the Philippines.
“More than 10 years na ako nag jump rope pero parang pang warm up lang sa mga exercises ko bago ako mag gym, bago ako mag boxing. Pero nung nag ECQ tayo last year nagsara yung gym, nakatira kasi ako sa condo, kumbaga walang gym, wala masyadong space, di rin ako makajogging kasi maliit yung area, so jump rope lang yung ginawa ko,” shared Alonzo.
“Nung nagstart ako mag jump rope, dun ko lang nakita na may community pala ng jump rope sa social media, sa IG specifically, tapos mula doon, doon ko na nakita na parang interesting pala yung world ng jump rope,” he furthered.
During that time, he engaged and interacted with the community by doing the challenges and tricks in jump ropes. It also fueled his competitive nature, winning small competitions within the community in double under skips.
Craving for more challenge, Alonzo set his sights on the bigger prize – an ambitious attempt to carve his name in the record books using his sheer talent and his skip ropes.
“May mga simple competitions lang ng double unders sa Instagram, sinasalihan ko iyon and madalas nanalo tayo. One time, June this year, nadecide ko lang na parang ano pa kaya pwede ko pang i-try na gawin. Tiningnan ko lang bigla yung mga record sa Guinness book na related sa double under and nakita ko ito, most number of double under skips in 12 hrs, ‘yun yung inapplyan ko,” explained Alonzo.
Being a former marathoner himself, Alonzo knew that the feat would be physically demanding. His preparations include endurance, strength and speed trainings. Aside from that, he and his team strategically laid out the plan to ensure that he will overcome the grueling 12 hrs straight of jumping.
But despite all the efforts, it wasn't smooth sailing for the Skipman after all. He experienced cramps in the middle of the attempt.
“Now that I think of it no, nangyari yung cramps because hinid ako nag hydrate masyado. Masyado ako naging focused sa form ko, masyado ako naging focused sa pagrerelax ng katawan, actually masasabi ko na sobrang ganda naman ng performance natin the first four hours halos wala akong pagod na naramdaman, pero masyado ako nafocus dun na sobrang kaunti ng water na nainom ko,” he recalled.
Good thing for Alonzo, with the help of his team, his family and supporters as well as from relative Benzi Yang who was a former team captain of La Salle swimming team, the Skipman powered through it and officially beat the record.
Still waiting for Guinness to officially announce and award the feat to him, Alonzo was already happy that he was able to pull it off. He is also hoping that this can inspire more people to start their own fitness journey especially during this time of pandemic.
“’Yung main reason ko talaga na gawin ito is gusto ko ibigay talaga sa Philippines, its first world record in jump rope and baka makainspire tayo ng mga tao to get fit, to start their fitness journey. To at least, sana man lang makapagbigay tayo ng good news kasi puro bad news na yung mga naririnig natin sa labas.”