USIS

As the first day of VFS 4-way competition came to a close at the 2019 USIS National Indoor Skydiving Championships hosted by iFly Virginia Beach, SDC Core (Rook Nelson, Dusty Hanks, Jason Russell and Stephanie Strange) turned in a score of 63 formations in the 8 th   round.  Pending ratification by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), this blistering performance sets a new FAI World Record for this type of record.  This accomplishment will also be the North American Continental record.  SDC Core set the previous record of 56 formations in 2017 during the 2 nd  FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championships.

Q & A With USIS Junior Athlete Sydney Kennett  How did you first get into the sport of indoor skydiving? Sydney: “My dad used to show me movies of skydiving growing up so I’ve always been really interested in flying.  He was an old school “free flier” and looked funny sit flying or on his head.  Then he took me.  I remember the first time getting to fly was when I was four years old and I just loved it.  About four years later we started up at what was then called Kids Club at iFLY and that is where I met my first coach and things just took off.  I just loved learning how to fly.” What was it like to win your first National Championship for Junior Freestyle? Sydney: “It is honestly very humbling because there are so many great competitors and each bring a unique aspect of flying to their routines.  I think everyone did amazing.” Who do you train with? Sydney: “I’ve had many great coaches over the years Preston Drake, M...

All athletes/teams below will be competing at the 2018 FAI World Cup of Indoor skydiving in Zallaq, Bahrain.   Open Vertical Formation Skydiving   SDC Core:   (Silver medal (4-way VFS) at 2017 WISC and Gold Medal (4-way VFS) at 2016 WCIS)   Michael Russell (Captain) Stephanie Strange Dustin Hanks Matthew Nelson   Open Freestyle   Blake Cullen   Amberly Brown   Reese Willson (Gold medal winner, Freestyle Open at 2014 WCIS)     Junior Freestyle   Kayleigh Wittenberg (Silver medal winner, Junior Freestyle Open at 2017 WISC)   Elijah Diamante Open Dynamic 2-Way   iFLY Crucible Daniel Cordido Dusty Shaw   iFLY Aspire   Noah Wittenberg Kayleigh Wittenberg   Atmosphere XP Mike Brewer Andrew Sutton  

In their first time competing together at the 2018 Indoor Skydiving National Championship Danielle Cordido and Dusty Shaw finished fourth in the Open Dynamic-2-way competition. Their placement qualified them for the upcoming 2019 FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving, where they will compete against the best flyers in the world. How did you both get into indoor skydiving? Daniel: It was sort of an accident. In 2012, I was looking for more work and a friend of mine showed me a job listing for iFLY. I originally applied for a CSR position, but the manager at the time said they needed an instructor. At first, I rejected it because I didn’t know what I was getting into, but after he explained all that went into it I eventually accepted it.  Dusty: Once I graduated high school I went to get my skydiving license. I applied to iFLY in Austin Texas and they actually denied me at first, so I started bartending and waiting tables. One day I heard about a position opening up, I applied ag...

From October 1 st to the 7 th the USIS national training facility iFLY Virginia Beach will be hosting a training week for all US athletes competing in the 2018 FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving (WCIS) in Zallaq, Bahrain. This week will provide all US teams in attendance with training time in the tunnel and use of our DynamR live scoring technology. All teams who wish to participate in this event please contact Connor McCarthy at connor@usindoorskydiving.com to reserve your spot.  $600/Flight Time Hour: For all athletes who came in first place in an open category event at the 2018 Nationals. $700/Flight Time Hour: For all athletes who did not place first in an open category event at the 2018 Nationals.

After placing third in the Freestyle Open at 2018 Nationals, Austin Crandall will be competing at this years World Cup of Indoor Skydiving. This will be the first time Crandall will compete at an international indoor skydiving competition.  What led you to the sport of indoor skydiving? Crandall: “My dad and I used to fly ultralights together when I was growing up. We would go fly every weekend, and my job was too put together the parachute and make sure the lines were connected. That along with my dad showing me his awesome skydiving footage planted the seed. Later on, I did my first tandem jump I realized how much I loved skydiving. For two years I would go to drop zones to pack parachutes, in order to pay for my jumps. The more time I spent at drop zones the more I realized that the best skydivers were all tunnel instructors. I realized I needed to start working at a tunnel as well, and that led me to my job at iFLY Va. Beach” Did you play any other spo...

When Chief Executive Officer of iFLY Virginia Beach Robert Pizzini walked away from the 2017 FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championship in Montreal, Canada he couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed. Sure he was able to witness some of the best athletes in the world perform miraculous aerial stunts, but he noticed that the USA team wasn’t among the best teams. While teams such as France and Poland seem unified and professional, the US team looked scattered with all sorts of different uniforms. In the eight events at the 2017 WISC, the US was unable to win gold, taking home just two silvers and a bronze. Pizzini was proud the US was able to take home those medals, but he believed that the US team could do so much more through a formal national governing body similar to other sports that culminate in selection to the US Olympic Team. After close examination of similar organizations such as US Ski and Snowboard, US Figure Skating, USA Track and Field, and USA Hockey Pizzini created US ...

Check out this article featuring the talented junior flier Sydney Kennett. Review article | Click Here!