Skipping on Water?

The Crawfordsville (Indiana) High School Swim Team and the Sugar Creek Swim Club both do skipping as dryland work nearly every day, using it to build coordination, rhythm, and harmonic flow. We skip forward, backward, with swimming arms, without, basically any combination we can find. We also skip in the water, doing all of the above and more, including skipping into swimming, which is very cool. We skip for meet warmups, even for this year’s Indiana State Swimming Championship. No one has a clue what we are doing, ha ha, but we just skip away and then swim fast.

Keep skipping! Kent Menzel, Crawfordsville High School Swimming

Safeway Skippers

“I work at a Safeway In Northern California. At work when a customer asks where something is we are required to ask them if they would like to be shown where the item is. Sometimes when they say yes, I start walking a few feet then I will turn to them and ask “Would you like to hold hands and skip? ” ( I must admit I only ask women) Sometimes they say “Yes!” So… off we go, and usually they start laughing and I’ve got a pretty big smile on my face too!! I think it’s fun !! Just thought you might like to know this story. Skip On!”

Fiddle Skipping in Chicago

On a recent trip to Chicago, iskip.com’s Skipper Kim caught  up with Chris Marshall, an avid skipper who plays the fiddle and skips at the same time!   In this video, Chris shares his skipping philosophy with Kim before they skip around Millennium Park where some kindred spirits join the fun!

Skipping is fun!

“I skip. I love it. I am new at skipping, just one month, but it is the most fun cardiovascular exercise I have ever done. I used to jog and it was too hard on me. Walking is okay but boring. Skipping changes your whole outlook on life. It is not just a kid thing but it makes you feel like a kid even at 62.” –L. Hanson, Arvada, Colorado

Atlanta Enthusiast Skips 100 Miles

In April of 2001, a skipper in Atlanta, Georgia named Susan Reineck skipped 100-miles across Atlanta to raise awareness and money for a wild life sanctuary where she volunteered.

Here are some excerpts from the article a reporter named Randy Southerland the Atlanta Journal-Constitution did at the time about her efforts…

“It’s late afternoon and the sweating joggers and the walkers with kids in tow are out in full force along a greeways path in Alpharetta. Although normally intent on their routines, even the most serious fitness buffs slow and smile when they see Susan Reineck skipping by.

While running, power walking, and spinning may be more in vogue, this energetic speech pathologist has joined a small but growing band of enthusiasts who prefer this classic means of childhood locomotion.

Reineck is, in fact, Atlanta’s head skipper. That means she’s in charge of spreading the wrod about skipping to a public that may find this jaunty movement maybe just a little silly.

“It’s incredible,” Reineck enthuses after a three-mile skip. “I  used to run in high school and college, but running just stopped doing it for me. so I said I’ll just walk, but that wasn’t enough. So with skipping I get the aerobic benefit that I would from running, but at the same time it’s a lot easier on my knees.”

While skipping might look deceptively easy and childlike, Reineck is in the midst of a serious training program for the biggest skip of her life. Beginning Sunday, Earth Day, at 1 pm, she plans to set off on a one-woman skip from Alpharetta’s North Point Community Church down to Buckhead and then all the way up to Ellijay – more than 100 circuitous miles. Her goals for this event she calls, “Bound for the Wild” is to raise money and public awareness for the Wildlife Rehabilitation Sanctuary.

“In Atlanta, people are so uptight,” says Reineck. “They’ve got so much on their minds. They’re always thinking about work, and I just see so many unhappy people. I think this is a good place to get more people skipping.”

While skipping may never be quite as popular as jogging, more and more people are coming to recognize its benefits. She believes that skipping actually does elevate your mood, and she feels, yes, like a kid again. It’s downright hard to be out of sorts when you’re skipping. And the reaction she gets from people on the skipping trail is positive as well.

“The cynic in me says people are going to look at me like I’m nuts or they’re going to cal me a freak,” says Reineck. “Instead people just smile and say hi.”

And secretly wish that they were skipping, too.

Skippin’ in the Big Easy

Hi Kim! I love to skip! Stumbled onto your site – it’s what I’ve been telling everyone. Skipping makes you happy! As an adult I can’t remember Not skipping! I’ve skipped with all my nieces and nephews (taught a few of them how to) and the oldest is 21. My favorite place to skip was at my girlfriend’s job sight! She ran a print shop that had great aisles for skipping. I told her this and we skipped through the aisles when the place closed for the day. –A Skipper in New Orleans, LA

Skip like the wind!

I finally have an uplifting story! Usually when I am out skipping people ignore me but the other day I was skipping past this family and one of their children suddenly looked up and shouted, “SKIP LIKE THE WIND!” I was so ecstatic that someone in my town finally acknowledged my skipping in a totally positive manner.–Laura in Ridgefield , CT

Sedona Arizona – January 2009

This video was shot on New Year’s Day in 2009 at one of the most magical places I have ever skipped – Sedona, Arizona!   It literally felt like we were skipping on top of the world!

Skipping in Green Pastures

From a Skipper named DeeDee…

I live in Missouri in the very southeastern part of the state, about 7 miles north of Arkansas. I am going to start skipping on a regular basis around my horse pasture where I have about a mile trail around the circumference of my property. I have 7 dogs, 5 of which go with me and they are not quite sure what to make of my “funny hopping run”. I will keep you posted on my progress with skipping. People need to do more things for fun and just because it feels good vs. what the latest fashion trends are and the price tag.

Skip to the St. Louis Zoo

Here’s a recap from a St. Louis group skip that happened back in 2001…Email Skipper Kim if you are interested in organizing a group skipping event in your area.

Sunday was a beautiful day for skipping at the zoo! The sunny skies and warmer temperatures seemed to bring everyone out of hibernation. The crowds thronged, the lions roared, the sea lions sang, the bears wrestled (at least that’s what I THINK they were doing), the prairie dogs chirped and munched their carrots adorably, and the kookaburra…once we found him, well, he just sat there. And the skippers skipped!…….A little.

Heartfelt thanks go out to the four new skippers who were brave enough to show their faces and skip in public: Deanna, Gregory, Rachel and Zachary. There were eight of us in all. This is the first time that people who admit to being my friends actually came to a group skip and it meant more to me than any of you can imagine…

It was also the first time that we skipped in such a crowded location. Didn’t bother me, but my husband did admit to feeling a tad self-conscious, which is okay. He did join me in a short stint from the bear to bear, but said that was it for him. (This from a guy who once stripped down to his boxers in a play on a stage in front of a full house…go figure…) On the other hand, there is a certain amount of anonymity offered by a crowd. And with all the animals to look at, I don’t think too many people really noticed us skipping.

I was already a little pooped from a long run I took earlier that day, so my skipping was a bit more sluggish than usual. Thanks again to Rachel who reminded me a few times that we weren’t skipping and got me going when my feet wanted to quit.

–Mary Kay, St. Louis Head Skipper, 3/20/01

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