To Moab resident Becca Jordan, wingsuit flying is “almost like dancing in the sky” — twirls, barrel rolls and mid-air connections performed with a precision that she says brings a calming focus.
“A person shouldn’t be standing so high and be ready to fly with wings,” she said. “We’re not made to do that. So to be able to explore that, it’s pretty cool.”
Jordan and her teammates became the first U.S. all-female team to set a world record in acrobatic wingsuit flying last month, linking 12 controlled holds in freefall during the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Cup of Wingsuit Flying in the Czech Republic. The record, recognized in the “Most Grips, All-Female Team” category, marked the first time an American women’s team had reached that milestone.
In competition, three-person teams — two performers and a camera flyer — exit a plane together and perform a choreographed sequence of maneuvers in freefall. Between turns, the performers connect for grips, making hand-to-hand or hand-to-foot contact while maintaining stability. Judges score the routines on execution, style and video quality.
Jordan, along with teammate Elizabeth Brott and camera flyer George Hargis, advanced to the international stage after placing third at U.S. nationals, qualifying their three-person team for the World Cup. It was their first year competing at that level. “We signed up for nationals … we were lucky to make it to the world level,” Jordan said.
(Alex Swindle) Becca Jordan and teammate Elizabeth Brott link mid-air during a wingsuit skydive in Eloy, Arizona.
Her interest in wingsuiting began years earlier. A climber in 2018, she was struck by stories of people flying in wingsuits. “It resonated,” she said. “I thought that was really inspiring, that humans are pursuing things wildly out of their element with this precision and focus.”
A tandem skydive with her mother “rocked my world,” she added, leading her to enroll in the Accelerated Freefall program in 2021. From the outset, she intended to wingsuit.
Jordan moved to Moab the following year, initially working at Skydive Moab and immersing herself in the area’s wingsuit community. She and Brott began training together before deciding to enter competition as a team.
Jordan said being part of one of the few women-led groups in the sport gave the record added significance.
“I hope that it inspires other like novice wingsuiters, especially ladies, to get a band of women together, start a team and sign up for the nationals competitively, because it’s a really cool scene,” she said.
She and Brott are now teaching others to wingsuit. Jordan is also preparing for performance flying, a solo competition measured by speed, distance and time, and is planning a women’s wingsuit camp in California.
Even with more than 1,200 jumps — about 900 in a wingsuit — she said the sport still feels new.
“Yes, I have these numbers of jumps, but I still feel like such a beginner and a student because there’s people with 10,000 jumps,” she said. “I love there’s so much to learn and it’s never ending.”
Jordan said everyone should try skydiving at least once in their lives.
“It’s awesome, exhilarating and peaceful too,” she said.
This story was first published by The Times-Independent.