Fierljeppen


Fierljeppen or polsstokverspringen is a traditional sport of the Netherlands, and of West Frisian people in the Dutch province of Fryslân. The sport is also traditionally popular in the province of Utrecht which produced record holder Jaco de Groot and Theo van Kooten.

Description

The sport involves a long pole and a body of water. The pole is typically made of cedar wood or some composite materials. The pole is between long and has a flat round plate at the bottom to prevent it from sinking into the muddy river or canal bottom. Its material has evolved from wood which was heavy but prone to breakage to aluminium and currently to carbon-fiber reinforced polymers.
A jump consists of a sprint to the pole, jumping and grabbing it, then climbing to the top of the pole while trying to control its forward and lateral movements over a body of water, and finishing by landing on a sand bed opposite to the starting point.

History

The Netherlands has many waterways. Fierljeppen originated as a way for Frisian people to get around the waterways easily. Over time it turned into a competition with the first official match in 1771 but the sport was not properly structured until 1957.
The sport is believed to have originated with farmers who used poles to leap over small water drainage channels to access different plots of land. In the German region of East Frisia this sport is known as Pultstockspringen. Today the sport is primarily practiced for fun or to entertain tourists, but there still is an official annual National Fierljepping Manifestation in the Netherlands, and championships are contested in six leagues and numerous clubs.

Record holders

The current Dutch record holders by category are:
There are 532 registered active jumpers in the world; of those, 190 are from the Netherlands.

Fierljeppen throughout the world

International tourists who have visited Friesland and the Lek regions and observed the sport have helped to spread its popularity across the globe. Competitions in other locales now take place, albeit at a less competitive level due to smaller numbers of athletes and the lack of suitable locations.
Many Americans were first introduced to the sport, referred to as "ditch-vaulting", on the twelfth season of The Amazing Race. This same task would be performed in the twenty-first and thirty-first seasons as a "Switchback" task.