San Jose twins leap to victory at frog jumping contest

Just 1¼ inches separated the first- and second-place jumps in this year’s Calaveras County Fair & Jumping Frog Jubilee, but the winners are even closer than that.

The Webbed One, owned by Logan Busch, jumped 18 feet, 6 inches to victory in the May 19 competition, held in Angels Camp. Jumping Jack Flash, owned by his twin sister Madison Busch, nabbed second place with a jump of 18 feet, 4¾ inches.

The 13-year-old twins, who are seventh-graders at St Martin of Tours in San Jose, come from a long line of frog jumpers. Their family has competed in the contest for 20 years with the World Championship frog team, which appropriately enough produced the world record-holder Rosie the Ribiter, jockeyed by Lee Guidici, who jumped 21 feet, 5¾ inches in 1986.

Records indicate that this is the first time in the frog jump’s 90-year history that twins have won the top two spots. Logan says it’s not unusual for him to go up against his sister.

“I have a twin sister, and everything in the house is a competition,” he says.

The competition begins on the Thursday of the Jumping Frog Jubilee and continues up to the finals on Sunday, when the top 50 jumpers compete.

Madison says she and her brother went frogging to find their jumpers. “The frogs we jumped in the finals are the ones we caught,” she adds.

Once you find your frog, Logan says, all that’s required is to get them to do what comes naturally.

You don’t train frogs,” he says, adding that in competition, “you have to know how to drop them onto then pad the right way.

“Also, you need to chase the frog so it goes straight and doesn’t touch you. I usually end up with scrapes and bruises on my arms and legs because the stage is concrete. Warming the frogs up helps get them feisty and ready to jump.”

According to Logan, the path to victory in the frog jump is simple. “If you get a good frog, then you will do good.”