Skydivers set three state records for parachutists at Skydive Spaceland Atlanta in Rockmart July 11-12, 2015. The jumps occurred during the newly opened skydiving center’s first Sisters in Skydiving event for female skydivers.
Women make up about 20% of the licensed skydiving population in the United States, and events like this aim to bring them together for camaraderie and fun. This particular event focused on coaching and mentoring female skydivers, but it also enjoyed enough talent to set two state records for formation skydiving in the female category and one in the general (male and female category). According to the United States Parachute Association, no records had been officially set in Georgia in these categories.
On Saturday, July 11, nine women from Texas, Georgia, Alabama, and South Carolina built an all-women formation (flying belly-down) over Skydive Spaceland Atlanta, then they built a second formation during the same skydive. Thus, the women claimed records for the largest all-woman formation skydive and the largest multi-formation skydive, also called a sequential skydive. Katrina Shows organized the skydive, which included Shows, Christy West, Frankie Davis, Belynda Adams, Erin Boubel, Sam Smith, Alisha Bloodworth, Brianna Palleschi, and Valerie Marvin.
On Sunday, July 12, two women and one man built the largest claimed head-up formation skydive, also known as a sit-flying formation. Sam Smith, Alisha Bloodworth, and Andree Blesgen claimed the head-up formation record for Georgia.
“There was a lot of great coaching going on for various types of skydiving and parachute flight,” said Spaceland’s owner Steve Boyd, who was present to witness the event and records. “The record skydives flew great and we are looking forward to beating these performances in the future!”