Elder Skydivers Set Age-Group Records

Photos by Norman Kent.

October 27-29 at Skydive Paraclete XP in Raeford, North Carolina, skydivers of a certain age—minimum age 40, but to be honest, nobody was under 60—blasted through the record books, obliterating previous state, national and world age-group records. The POPS (Parachutists Over Phorty Society) counted 10 new records; SOSers (Skydivers Over Sixty) had 11; and not to be outdone, the JOSers (Jumpers Over Seventy) added seven more. TopPOP James Davis, the administrator of the groups’ bragging rights, was heard to complain that he was kept up past his bedtime over several nights, reviewing video to confirm the claims made over the weekend. Rick Poplinger and Scott Latinis organized the event.

Conventional sequential records require a minimum of 30 percent of a group to make a grip change, but this group of older skydivers raised the bar by adding the more difficult total-break sequential records to its repertoire. Seven of the new records were for total-break jumps. Some of the teams smashed several records—world, U.S. and state—on the same jump. Records, as the saying goes, are made to be broken, but some have a very short shelf life: One record lasted only 20 minutes, as the following plane load beat it.

Doug Garr | D-2791
New York, New York