Freshman Eunice Lee won her fifth national jump-roping champion title this past June at the 2024 American Jump Rope National Championship at Salt Lake City in Utah, according to Eunice Lee. She completed her fourth national championship run with a gold medal in Single Rope Speed Endurance, the title of U.S. Junior Individual All- Around Champion, and the title of Grand National Jump Rope Champion, according to Eunice Lee.
Eunice Lee competed in four events: Single Rope Individual Freestyle (SRIF), Single Rope Speed Sprint (SRSS), Single Rope Double Under Relay (SRDUR), and Single Rope Speed Endur- ance (SRSE), according to Eunice Lee.
Eunice Lee, heading into her fourth national tournament, only practiced jump-roping for about two to three hours a day, as she doesn’t want to practice harder in fear of an injury right before a competition, she said. Addition- ally, she is very particular about her diet, not eating much before competitions to be light on her feet, she said.
“I would literally eat maybe one slice of watermelon for breakfast, and for lunch one granola bar,” Eunice Lee said. “Especially in Salt Lake City, that I did this year, (there’s) really high elevation, (that’s) really bad for metabolism. Even though I eat one banana and milk for breakfast, it wouldn’t go down. It would still stay there, and it will hurt my belly while I practice.”
Being a jump-roping national champion was never the plan for Eunice Lee and her parents, according to Eunice Lee’s moth- er, Celine Lee. After Eunice Lee won two consecutive gold medals in the Milpitas Elementary Olympics, her family agreed that Eunice Lee may have a talent for jump-roping, Celine Lee said.
“We were searching if there was any club, not specifically a competitive club,” Celine Lee said. “There was a (test) to join the club, and she passed.”
Eunice Lee started to train with Sol Jumpers, a competitive jump-roping team, in January 2020, according to her father and coach, Sean Lee. The team was disbanded after the coach left the team a few months after the pandemic started, which led to Eunice Lee competing as a one-person team since April 2022, according to Sean Lee.
“In 2022 we contacted some of the well-known jump rope coaches, but they were not local,” said Sean Lee. “She (Eunice Lee) got some online classes or les- sons, one hour each session.”
Eunice Lee says she wishes to spread the sport in Milpitas. She plans to start her own jump-rop- ing club next semester, Eunice Lee said.
“I want to teach teens outside of school as well,” Eunice Lee said. “Jump rope is endangered in the Bay Area, that’s why I really want to spread it.”