Jimmy Cooper talks about his passion for the sport of skydiving and gives E Sports reporter, Francesca Hung, an indoor flight experience to remember! “I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.” says Francesca
Check out her awesome article below:
“I’d always dreamt of earning my wings, but I never thought I’d get them in a bright orange jumpsuit!
If you had told me a year ago that I would be trying indoor skydiving I would have laughed and told you absolutely not. Adrenaline sports have never been my forte and I can say with all honesty, I have never thought I would fly! How things change…
When Jimmy took me for my first iFLY experience I was trying to look cool, calm and collected on the outside but on the inside… I was absolutely shaking in my boots. The scariest part was jumping into the iFLY dome, but once that zero gravity hit and my whole body went weightless, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.
Indoor skydiving was possibly the most fun experiences I have ever had! I was lucky enough to have Jimmy Cooper, Champion Skydiver, guiding me the whole way through and he even took me for a high-fly which meant zooming up to the top of the wind tunnel and then skyrocketing down to the bottom, which is apparently the closest feeling to actual skydiving you can achieve. It was amazing!”
Jimmy was incredibly inspiring as he discussed the art of skydiving and showed us the unbelievable ways one can compete in skydiving competitions. I thought I was pretty good for my first time until i watched Jimmy take to centre stage and show us 360-degree spins, flying backwards and somersaults that blew our minds!
For Jimmy, skydiving is all about the preparation he puts in, his commitment to the sport, and last but not least: his confidence.
Indoor skydiving is also a uniquely accessible and inclusive sport for people of all abilities. Whether you’re a wheelchair user, have low vision or low hearing, varied cognitive abilities, or more, the full-controlled, ultra-safe environment of indoor skydiving allows almost everybody to fly their way. With very little limitation on who can fly, indoor skydiving is a sport with endless progression opportunity and is rapidly growing in Australia and around the world,
The main takeaway from my experience of indoor skydiving and meeting Jimmy, was that you should push yourselves to try new things and take things to a new height you never thought you could reach – literally! I don’t think I’m game enough just yet to try skydiving out of a plane, but you could probably catch me trying out a few new tricks at iFLY… this girl is hooked!
Francesca Hung
E! Sports
