ELOY, Ariz. — A local skydiving team brought home the silver medal for the United States all the way from the world championship competition in Australia.
The Arizona Airspeed team won in four-way formation skydiving at the 2018 World Parachuting Championship this week in Gold Coast, Australia.
In formation skydiving, teams of four exit the airplane and must complete the assigned geometric formations while free falling before time runs out and they have to open their parachutes, according to a release from the United States Parachute Association.
The silver-winning team consisted of Thiago Gomes, 41, of Tucson, Niklas Hemlin, 41, Mikhail Markine, 32, of Casa Grande, and Ari Perelman, 36, of Chandler. Videographer David French, 44, of Eloy also jumped with the team to record their performance for the judges on the ground.
According to a release, the Arizona Airspeed team – which trains in Eloy at Skydive Arizona – got to represent the U.S. at the world championships after winning gold at national championships last year.
