Media Native Sets National Skydiving Record

MEDIA, PA – A Media native who thrives on adrenaline can thank his dedication and steadfast constitution for winning two gold medals and setting a national record recently at the 2017 U.S. Parachute Association National Collegiate Parachuting Championships with his skydiving teams.

Thomas Rounds – a cadet at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York – came out of the event with lots to brag about after securing the medals and national record.

Rounds and his team won gold in the advanced 4-way and 6-way formation skydiving events, according the U.S. Parachute Association.

Formation skydiving requires teams to leap from an aircraft more than two miles above the ground, then race against the clock to form prescribed geometric formations in freefall before opening their parachutes, the U.S. Parachute Association said.

Rounds, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering at West Point, and his 6-way team also set a new national record by completing the six-person formation in a mere 9.16 seconds after exiting the airplane.

The competition – held at the Florida Skydiving Center in Lake Wales, Florida – drew more than 80 collegiate skydivers from around the country to compete for the title of national champion in four spectacular skydiving disciplines: Formation Skydiving, Vertical Formation Skydiving, Sport Accuracy and Classic Accuracy.

Rounds has completed more than 300 skydives in his parachuting career.

The 2017 U.S. Parachute Association National Collegiate Parachuting Championships is the oldest and biggest collegiate skydiving event in the world

Well done, congratulations, and good luck, Thomas!

Pictured above is Rounds' 6-way team that set a national record after they came into formation

Photos by Laszlo Andacs, courtesy of U.S. Parachute Association