Even though George Nissen is credited with designing and building the world's first trampoline in 1934, much folklore surrounding the origin of the trampoline still thrives today. The most popular story about the trampoline's origin centers around a French acrobat named Du Trampolin who supposedly got the idea of the trampoline from watching trapeze artists bound into the air after falling onto their safety nets. This story is highly dubious, yet it survives.
Invention In the early 1930s, University of Iowa gymnasts George Nissen and Larry Griswold, much like the fictional Du Tramploin, had observed trapeze artists using tighter safety nets to add an extra element of entertainment to their routines. Originally used simply as a training device for gymnasts, it eventually became a gymnastic apparatus in its own right. By the early 1940s, Nissen and Griswold had created their own trampoline production company, Griswold-Nissen Trampoline & Tumbling Company, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
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Evolution
The trampoline has evolved since the first piece of canvas was stretched out by Nissen and Griswold. Not only has it become a competitive Olympic sport, but it has also gone aquatic.
With the proliferation of water parks around the country over the last three decades, aquatic entertainment has become hugely popular. Following the trend, Rave Sports introduced the first water trampoline, the Aqua Jump. Since then, Rave water trampolines have become every bit as popular as their land-bound predecessors.
Water trampolines can now be found in an array of sizes and styles with all the accessories you could imagine, such as slides and ladders, to match. Water trampolines are great for water acrobatics, diving, and even sun bathing and relaxing.
