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Women break Georgia skydiving record
Georgia has three new state skydiving records thanks to a team of brave women who believe the sky's the limit. Now they're hoping their amazing feat will bring a spotlight to the sport and inspire others to reach for the stars.
MONROE, Ga. - Georgia has three new state skydiving records thanks to a 12-member team of brave women who believe the sky's the limit.
Now, they hope their amazing feat will spotlight the sport and inspire others to reach for the stars.
There's no one way to describe the feeling you get when you deliberately jump out of an airplane and plummet toward the ground with nothing but the air and your courage between you and the earth.
Some would call you crazy for doing it or even wanting to. For others, it's a way of life.
"I started skydiving in 2008. I did a tandem skydive with my sister where you're attached to the instructor the whole time and the instructor does all the work for you, so it's more of an experience than anything," skydiver and instructor Tiffany Becker said. "I did that and was pretty much hooked."
Becker, Katia Carte, Elizabeth Donatucci, and Karli Muhaw are four members of an all-female group who broke not only one state record but set two others at Skydive Monroe on Sunday, Aug. 12.
The women all had varying levels of experience and were only able to get one day of practice, which was the day before the official jumps.
Adding to the stress - some of the group didn't even know each other.
"I definitely felt a sense of pride for what we just accomplished as a team and to know that everybody had their own part to play, and we all did it, and we did it well, and we did it together," Becker said.
When it was all said and done, the ladies set new records in three areas: the female skydiving large formation, the sequential large formation, and the full-break sequential formation. All of them were recorded officially by the U.S. Parachute Association.
For Donatucci, this was her first-ever attempt at breaking a record. Now, she's sure the sky's the limit.
"I knew we could get it, but when you actually get it you're like, 'Whoa, that was cool,'" Donatucci said.
Fellow skydiver Carte is a little more experienced in the air. For her, these courageous leaps of faith are all about safety.
"I'm just trying to keep myself calm, cool, collected, and to know what my job is," Carte said. "No skydive goes according to plan. You can jump a thousand times and be on a different experience every single time."
Still sitting on cloud nine, the high-flying ladies aren't stopping here. They hope their amazing stunts among the clouds will inspire other women to shoot for the stars.
"If we can do this, I feel like we can do anything. I would definitely like to attempt more records in the future," Muhaw said. "It's kind of eye-opening as to what you can accomplish. You never really know how much you can do until you're put to the test."
Donatucci agrees.
"Anything is possible. Anything you set your mind to you can achieve," she said. "Just have that confidence, and I hope more people learn good things about the sport, and more females join it and set more records."