The Power To Soar Beyond Our Limits

Marie Clark is the organizer of the 2023 women’s wingsuit world record, co-organizer of the SheFlocks bi-annual women’s wingsuit event with Jessica Burrows and organizer of the Let’s FLYYY wingsuit skills camp series at Skydive Perris.

By Marie Clark

I recently led a group of female skydivers to achieve a Women’s Wingsuit World Record. A wingsuit is a specialized suit that allows skydivers to fly through the air like a glider.

Our international squad from across the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, South Korea and Brazil aimed to create a pre-declared formation starting at 13,000 feet while flying at approximately 110 miles per hour. Our biggest challenge was finding the right combination of personalities and individual strengths to create the best formation with the highest level of probable success.

It’s a fine line between repetition and incremental change, both individually and for the group, to improve with each attempt. No two jumps are ever the same. Whether it be speed, angle or approach, every jump required awareness, adjustment and a lot of trust from the team that I, the lead flyer, could make those decisions and get us home every time.

Together we soared. On Thursday, we achieved a record with 18 skydivers. Then, our team came together on Saturday to push and achieve an even larger record (19-way). To make one more attempt, right at sunset after a long day, shows skill and perseverance. We also broke Women’s California and U.S. National records.

Women make up 14% of skydivers. Women who wingsuit are an even smaller percentage. Precision and awareness within proximity formation flying are skills carried by a select few. This group represents less than 1% of the skydiving community.

I'm excited about setting these records and about the 12-Way California Women’s Head-Up Record achievement led by Jazmyne Kahler and Courtney Moore the same weekend. The possibility for growth is exceptionally motivating! We did more than set records. We shattered all the limits on what women can achieve in extreme sports and beyond.

Marie Clark is the organizer of the 2023 women’s wingsuit world record. Co-organizer of the SheFlocks bi-annual women’s wingsuit event with Jessica Burrows. Organizer of the Let’s FLYYY wingsuit skills camp series at Skydive Perris.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=13951737; https://www.instagram.com/mariejclark/ www.linkedin.com/in/marie-clark-294b521b ; https://www.uspa.org/ https://www.instagram.com/skydiveuspa/