4 Orange County Skydivers Earn Gold At U.S. Championships

IRVINE, CA —Two skydiving teams, based at Skydive Elsinore, recently won gold medals in canopy-formation events at the U.S. Parachute Association National Parachuting championships in North Carolina, and now will head to the 2020 World Parachuting Championships in Russia.

Irvine residents Michael Whitlock, Will Kitto, and David Sands all received awards.

"Elsinore Too Wrapped Up" won gold in four-way rotations, and "Elsinore Revolution" won gold in the four-way sequential event, according to the United States Parachute Association.

Those wins earn the teams slots on the prestigious U.S. Parachute Team, the nation’s "most elite aerial athletes," that will meet up at the Russia competition, organizers said.

In canopy-formation skydiving, teams of either two or four skydivers deploy their parachutes immediately after jumping from the plane and build formations as quickly as possible while holding onto each other’s canopies. A videographer flies alongside to capture the action.

Elsinore Too Wrapped Up team members include: Michael Whitlock, 40, and Will Kitto, 40, of Irvine; Kyle Taylor, 41, of Dana Point; Sean Jones, 38, of Corona; and Steve Archuletta, 50, of Peyton, Colorado.

Elsinore Revolution includes: Jones; Taylor; David Sands, 48, of Irvine; Keith Tolley, 41, of Colorado Springs; and Daniel Purdy, 32, of Worthington, Ohio.

For more information on making a first jump or to find a skydiving center near you, visit www.uspa.org or call 800-371-USPA.

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