‘Rosie’ Is the Belle of the Annual Hop

A frog named “Rosie the Ribiter” leaped 21 feet 5 3/4 inches Sunday, setting a world’s record to win the Calaveras Jumping Frog Jubilee and a purse of $1,500 for her coach, Lee Giudici.

Giudici and her fellow team members from Santa Clara--who call their team Giudici, Guzules & Matasci--captured five of the eight prizes awarded in the Olympics of frog jumping.

Rosie’s jump broke the 1984 record of 21 feet 1 1/2 inches set by Weird Harold, who had hailed from Sweet Home, Ore.

Between 3,000 and 4,000 frogs took part in the two-day competition, and 115 jumped their way into Sunday’s finals. The distances they traveled were measured at the end of three jumps, penalizing those who failed to hop in a straight line from the starting pad.

Frog jockeys shouted at the creatures, blew on them and jumped up and down beside them, but were not permitted to touch the hoppers during their performances.

The popular competition, in its 58th year, was spawned by Mark Twain’s short story, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.”