The Royal Navy Skydiving Association has just recorded its best year in recent history at the annual Inter-Services championships, gaining a podium in every single category entered!
Hosted by the Army at Skydive Netheravon in Wiltshire, the Inter-Services represents a week of competition in various skydiving disciplines – of which there are a lot!
Special mention to LH Goknil, who won the trophy for the highest-placed Royal Navy competitor in his first season with the team, for his win in individual accuracy and bronze in formation skydiving. LH Goknil is currently posted to Netheravon, where the military parachuting adventurous training is run, he’s clearly making the most of his time there.
The winning teams were:
Formation Skydiving, where the team forms various shapes in the sky against the clock – gold in the Rookie category (WO2 Hahn, LH Shaw, AB Reeves, AB Ward) and bronze in the single A category (Cdr Chang, LH Davenport, LH Goknil, LH Shaw), who were the Rookie winners last year.
Freefly, where gymnastic manoeuvres are performed – bronze in Rookie (Sgt's Benson and Fleming RM) and silver in the ‘head up’ category (Cdr's Chang and Lee), also referred to as the most expensive team!
Accuracy, where competitors try to land on a pinpoint, with categories based upon number of jumps – in the intermediate category, individual gold and bronze for LH's Goknil and Shaw respectively, with the rest of the team close behind earning a team gold overall. In senior accuracy, individual bronze to Cdr Lee, and in junior accuracy, a team bronze for Capt Josh Ferguson RM, Capt Mike Bamber RM, and Mne Djarrow Chilman-Hey. Comfortably the most accurate Service, this is a testament to a training camp run earlier this year by Cdr Lee.
As a result of their achievements, Lt Reynolds awarded half-colours to WO2 Hahn, LH Goknil, AB Reeves, and AB Ward – to earn their full colours, they will need to take their skills forward to the national competition.
This achievement, as well as regular podiums at national-level events by Cdr Lee and Lt Reynolds, is the culmination of a period of rebuilding for the club. Pre-Covid, the number of regular skydivers in the club was in the single digits, whereas membership is now in triple figures. The new Committee, monthly progression weekends, nurturing and training new skydivers to get them to a standard for competition, and Sgt Benson’s annual expeditions to California bringing in a ready supply of new skydivers, have very clearly paid off. The rebuilding period is therefore over, and the bar has been set high!
