Skydiving club celebrates 50 years as world record attempted across the globe

A South West skydiving club celebrated its 50th anniversary on July 12, the same date as World Skydiving Day. This celebrations went on the same time thousands of skydivers across the globe attempted to break the world record for the most skydives in a day. The Hillman Farm Skydiving Club, in Darkan, was able to do 11 loads of divers this weekend as opposed to the 52 loads they made last year due to the weather restrictions. But for club vice-president Ben Strickland, it was not all about the record-breaking attempt. “This year, it was not just about that, it was the 50th anniversary of our oldest serving skydiving club in Australia,” Mr Strickland said. As part of the celebrations, the founding members visited the club to revisit the memories of their skydiving days. “It was catching up, going through old photos and memories and we had speeches,” Mr Strickland said. “It was quite a significant day of history, for our club in Australia to achieve 50 years and being the only club still operating independently.” Hillman Farm Skydiving Club was established in 1975 when the founding members recognised the requirement for a drop zone closer to the city. At that time, the land it is currently on, was owned by Brian Harrington who was keen on organising activities for locals. The land had an airstrip used for World War II that the club thought it could use for skydiving. Founding member Dave Mann said the club evolved from military surplus gear to high-performance round parachutes and automatic activation devices over the years. “In the 80s, we progressed to using an Australian made product, made by Parachutes Australia, which is called a pygmy2 system, where both parachutes were on your back, your main parachute and your reserve were on your back,” Mr Mann said. “They had a thing called a single action cutaway system, which meant you could disconnect your main canopy if it had a malfunction, and your reserve canopy would deploy.” The celebrations coincided with calls for skydiving to be part of the 2032 Olympic Games. The world’s fastest female speed skydiver, Queensland local Natisha Dingle, said the sport deserves to be in the Olympics. “A huge amount of preparation goes into competing, mentally and physically,” Ms Dingle said. “To represent Australia on the world stage for a sport I love is an incredible honour and now it’s time to take the next step and see skydiving officially added as an Olympic sport for the 2032 Games.”

Skydiving club celebrates 50 years as world record attempted across the globe

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