Laguna Niguel Area Skydiver Joins U.S. Parachute Wingsuit Team

LADERA RANCH, CA — Kristian Szczepitko really can soar like a bird.

Ladera Ranch skydiver Kristian Szczepitko set a national record in the performance flying event at the USPA National Championships of Wingsuit Flying from Aug. 20 to Aug. 24 at Chicagoland Skydiving Center in Rochelle, Illinois.

Szczepitko set a national record for longest flight time with an 88.6-second flight.

With his fourth place overall finish, he also earned a slot on the prestigious U.S. Parachute Team that will compete at the first-ever Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Wingsuit Flying World Championships in Florida this November.

What is Wingsuit Flying?

A wingsuit flyer, according to Wingsuitfly.com, is part skydiving and part extreme sport where specialized jumpsuits—sometimes referred to as squirrel suits or birdman suits—are worn to allow the jumper to soar over horizontal distances at slower rates of descent, increasing freefall time.

"With the growth of wingsuit skydiving over the past few years, more skydivers are taking up this exciting discipline," Nancy Koreen, Director of Sport Promotion, USPA said in release. "In wingsuit skydiving, jumpers wear technologically advanced suits that are specially designed to increase their horizontal glide across the ground, allowing them to soar like birds through the sky at horizontal speeds approaching 200 mph."

In the performance flying event, individual competitors are scored on their horizontal distance, flight time and speed as they zoom across the sky.

36-year-old Szczepitko has completed more than 1,500 skydives. He trains at Skydive Elsinore in Lake Elsinore, Ca. and works as an engineer.

Images courtesyUSPA, Photos by Curt Vogelsang/USPA.