Travelling at a height of 17,000 feet, hurtling through the skies at break-neck speeds and battling the elements to complete the mission. No, it’s not the F-35, but Lt. Freddie Huntley breaking yet another skydiving world record.
Last year, as part of its program to support excellence in operations on land, sea and air, IFS sponsored Genevieve “Freddie” Huntley in a skydiving world record attempt. A Lieutenant in the Royal Navy since 2008, Freddie and a team of experienced skydivers selected from all over the world managed to break the world record for a 2-point, 202 way sequential formation – an achievement that had been attempted for over 6 years by previous challengers.
Read how IFS helped Freddie in her 2015 World Record breaking jump.
Earlier this month, wearing her IFS “purple patch of power,” Freddie took to the skies once again in an attempt to set a new Women’s European Sequential Record. Taking place in Teuge, The Netherlands, home of the last skydiving World Cup, Freddie met up with a team of female skydivers to carve their names into the record books.
The event was part of the Women on Wings project, which aimed to raise publicity for skydiving in Europe and encourage more women to get involved in the sport. Participants from all over Europe attended the event, with the goal to try and set a new 50-way European Sequential Female Record.
Off cloud nine and into the record books
Jumping out of a plane and darting through the clouds at 120mph sounds a daunting task, but Freddie and the team made it look like a piece of cake, breaking their own record on every day of the event – 7 times to be exact!
Not only did the team smash the Women’s European Sequential Record at the first attempt – an achievement almost unheard of in skydiving – but the all-female group also set a new World Record in the proceedings.
Click here for a video of the world record-breaking jump – Freddie is easily seen by her yellow helmet at the top of the screen.
Freddie now holds three skydiving world records, with IFS supporting each attempt:
- The Women’s World Record for largest sequential formation (2-point, 117 way in 2014)
- The Open World Record for largest sequential formation (2-point, 202 way in 2015)
- And now, the Women’s World Record for the most points in a sequential formation (3-point, 56 way)
Against the odds
“It was particularly emotional because the jump started to go wrong very early on, but everybody dug out blind and we made the record against all the odds,” Freddie explained after the World Record attempt. “I have never been to an event before where the goal was achieved on the first jump. It was an amazing day! It’s by far the most successful event I have ever been on and has been such a wonderful experience.”
But Freddie has no time to put her feet up as she is already planning her next world record challenge – a 100+, single-point European Women’s record attempt next year.
If you are interested in skydiving and would like to learn more about the sport, visit the APA website or the British Parachute Association to see how you can take part.
Click here to find out more about the IFS Aerospace & Defense Center of Excellence.
