A Bacchus Marsh local was a part of a historic flight with eighteen other women, whose simultaneous skydive broke an Australian record last week.
Nicole Kearns was a part of a successful record attempt for the largest skydiving all-female star formation, with 19 women joining hands in a circle as they fell through the air in Toogoolawah, Queensland.
Ms Kearns said the attempt had been planned since last year and took 10 tries on the day to achieve.
“It does take some time and training to build up your skills to be able to do a record like this,” she said.
“This one did not come easy, records usually don’t,
“But it was absolutely amazing, all of us wanted it so badly and that’s what it takes to get a record, everyone has to dig deep and be determined.”
Ms Kearns has been skydiving for the past 19 years, after trying it out when she received a birthday voucher and getting hooked.
The mum-of-three and psychologist has since completed around 1100 jumps and also participated in the previous Australian record.
She said this attempt with 19 women took extreme precision to achieve, but was a testament to the whole group of flyers, coaches, pilots and crew that worked hard to complete it.
“It was a really great achievement, and shows how strong every single woman in the group was for that to happen.”
Ms Kearns said the sport is typically male-dominated, so it was “amazing” to have an all female team.
“It was a really great, positive vibe in the group and really good teamwork.”
Record organiser and coach Kristina Hicks said it was a “special moment” to bring the women together to achieve something great.
“Participants travelled from all over Australia for this record attempt, something that hasn’t been possible for quite some time due to all the COVID border restrictions and shutdowns,” Ms Hicks said.
“It was great to be able to reunite with amazing women from around the country.”
