Geneva Native Wins Gold at National Skydiving Championship

Geneva native Ben Crooch won gold in the advanced-class distance event at last week’s 2016 U.S. Parachute Association National Skydiving Championships of Canopy Piloting at Skydive City Zephyrhills in Florida.

Crooch was one of nearly 60 of the country’s top skydivers who competed for gold, silver and bronze medals in canopy piloting, according to a news release. In canopy piloting, often called “swooping,” skydivers fly high-performance parachutes that can generate high vertical and horizontal speeds. By performing speed-inducing maneuvers, these very experienced skydivers can glide inches above the ground for hundreds of yards at speeds approaching 90 mph.

The canopy piloting championships include competitions in speed, in which pilots try to fly as quickly as possible through a course; distance, which involves flying as far as possible across the ground; and accuracy, in which canopy pilots must stop on an exact spot for maximum points, according to the news release.

Crooch, 39, owns and operates Scissortail Skydiving in Shawnee, Oklahoma, and has completed more than 5,600 skydives. 

Later this year, nearly 500 of the country’s top skydivers will head to the 2016 United States Parachute Association (USPA) National Skydiving Championships. The event will take place October 21-30 at Skydive Arizona in Eloy, an expansive skydiving resort an hour south of Phoenix. These championships are also free and open to the public.