VIDEO: Jersey's first formation skydiving team head for UK championship

Thursday 23 November 2017

They have been dreaming of it for years and now the dream is finally coming true. Four islanders have recently formed Jersey's first four-way formation skydiving team to compete in the UK championships as soon as next year.

Claire Allen, Liam Hardman, Hedi Green and Michael Stocks will have to execute as many formations as possible in just 35 seconds, all filmed by their cameraman Luke Gale, to reach the podium.

The quartet formed their team in August after meeting at the Trinity Arms. Hedi Green told Express: "All of us dreamed to be on a team and we have all been skydiving for years. It was actually someone who is not on the team today who suggested we create one. But we had to do it properly and really commit to it. It is a big investment of both your time and finances. When the four of us started talking, we could see we were all singing off the same song sheet so we decided to do it and we committed to it for two years."

For Hedi Green, the skydiving adventure started 16 years ago when she did her first tandem flight in the Netherlands. "I was terrified," she says. "I have never been into extreme sports. I was rather risk adverse and a bit of scaredy cat. I had a fear of heights and used to have vertigo when looking over tall buildings. I got convinced  but didn't really have time to think about it. I had my five-month old daughter in arms and ten minutes after saying I would think about it I was getting geared up. I was so scared when the door opened that I closed my eyes for half of the fall.

"When I opened them again, I saw the cameraman smiling and waving and I thought 'Oh maybe this is ok then.' When I landed I just couldn't believe what I have done. It was one of my biggest achievements as I faced one of my biggest fears. My recurring nightmare of getting sucked out of a plane stopped after that and it helped me in other aspects of my life. It switched something in my brain that has helped me with other challenges by reminding me 'You can do it.'"

Each team member has a different story. Captain Liam Hardman jumped "head first and skydived solo" for his first jump in 2005 while Claire Allen's friend bought her first skydive for her 40th and she waited a year before doing it solo. As for Michael Stocks, his first experience was in the late 90’s when he was in the British Army. But they all have one thing, or actually two, in common: their love of skydiving and a goal to compete in the UK championships. Ms Green says:"We all have different journeys but we work like a close-knit family. We are continuously checking on each other, making sure everyone is alright which is something that should be applied to all teams, In any situation."

Pictured: The mean, minus cameraman Luke Gale, from left: Claire Allen, Liam Hardman, Hedi Green and Michael Stocks.

To succeed at the championships next August, the quartet will have to cram in 20 hours of wind tunnel training and 100 jumps in their respective busy schedules. While it may not sound much, it takes a lot of time, money and heavy logistics to organise. The team has to fly out every other week to Basingstoke to train in the wind tunnel, which costs over £1,000 every time. They also have to hire the services of a coach, someone who has previously competed and can help them with their formations, at the cost of £10 a minute. 

The quartet also has to fly out of Jersey to do jumps. While the island is the "most beautiful drop zone in the world" according to Ms Green, Jersey is not the best place for altitude jumps. After visiting the Algarve, France and Spain, the team will therefore be travelling to Lake Elsidore in South California in March and is aiming for 30 to 40 jumps in five days. 

Pictured: The star, one of the 38 formations the team needs to perfect before August 2018.

The team also meets in Jersey meet every Wednesday to practice their formations on creepers - big skateboards on which they lie down to repeat their choreography over and over again. During the competition, they will have 35 seconds to execute as many patterns as possible, with three being given to them the night before. The team needs to know all 38 patterns by heart. Once in the air, they have to carefully exit the plane to be able to quickly get in formation. After each pattern has been created, they have to release while trying not to fly away, before creating a different one. All of this has to be captured on camera by the fifth member of the team, Luke Gale, as all of the judging is done on the ground, miles away from the actual flying zone.

Practice really makes perfect in skydiving. Each team member as a position - point for Liam Hardman, inside centre for Claire Allen, outside centre for Ms Green and tail for Michael Stocks - which they keep in all patterns. Ms Green says: "The World Champions they do about 1,000 jumps a year. It is a very fine tuning of how you move your body to be flying at the same level as people. If your elbow is bent in a slightly wrong way you might catch the wind and fly away. There is also all the different patterns to learn, it takes a lot of skills which you need to hone. Anybody can skydive, there are people in prosthetics who do it, but it takes time and practice to reach a certain level."

With training costs estimated at £25,000 to £30,000, the team is hoping to secure some sponsorships before the competition. They recently launched a fundraising page which has received £5,000 so far. They also hope to convince businesses to try skydiving as part of team building exercises to fund their own training. Their ultimate goal: representing Jersey at the International Air Games. Ms Green says: "If we take part in the UK Skydiving League, from May to July, and get on the podium, we would be able to do the Air Games. It would be amazing to put Jersey on the international stage."