USIS

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  

With the 2019 USIS Open National Championship coming up in January, all indoor skydiving athletes no matter what skill level are welcome to compete. For a third consecutive year, the USIS National Championship will be hosted by iFLY Virginia Beach, and for a second consecutive year the FS portion will be hosted by Paraclete XP. The Events at iFLY Virginia Beach will take place from January 11-13 and will include Vertical Formation Skydiving 2-Way/4-Way, Freestyle, Junior Freestyle, Dynamic 2-Way/4-Way and best trick. The date for Paraclete XP’s events have not been set, but they are expected to take place mid to late February. Events will include 4-Way/8-Way Formation Skydiving and 4-Way Vertical Formation Skydiving. Events at both venues are broken up into four different skill levels: rookie, intermediate, advanced and open. This allows athletes who participate to compete with each other within the skill level their comfortable with. Junior specific categories are av...

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...

Four different USIS membership packages have been officially made available to the public. Athlete, Non-Athlete, Founder, and Lifetime memberships are now accessible with various prices and benefits listed on the USIS membership page .  Registering for an Athlete or Non-Athlete package grants membership for a full year when purchased. Athlete, Founder and Lifetime memberships qualify all those who register for USIS sanctioned competitions, including US Nationals.  All those who have qualified and wish to participate at the 2018 World Cup of Indoor Skydiving must register for a USIS Athlete, Founder, or Lifetime membership. All membership benefits are currently exclusive to the USIS National Training Center iFLY VA beach with more tunnels expected to participate as we move forward. Find out more information or register for a USIS membership here http://www.usindoorskydiving.com/joinus   "The USIS team is very excited to get the membership up and ru...

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 ...

Representing the USA, Reese Willson finished 4th in the 2017 FAI World Championship Freestyle Open, missing out on a medal by just half a point. After taking second place at the 2018 US Nationals Freestyle Open, Willson looks to once again compete for a world title.  Q: What first sparked your interest in indoor skydiving? Willson: “I had a skydiving friend move back to Utah, and he wanted me to fly in the iFLY Utah tunnel. It actually sounded dumb to me, which is ironic. It sounded like fake skydiving. I eventually went and thought it was the coolest thing ever, and the rest is kind of history.” Q: You placed 4th in open freestyle at the 2017 FAI World Championship last year. What was it like competing at a World Class event, and coming close to medaling? Willson: “It’s rewarding just to see other flyers. It’s always good to have that opportunity to see what else is going on in the world of flying. I was a little bummed that I didn’t med...