Local Skydivers Win Nationals, Earn Slots on U.S. Team

Photo credit USPA/David Wybenga

CHESTER, SC – Local skydivers Doug Barron, 32, of Rock Hill, and Andrew Happick, 31, of Chester, and their team SDC Rhythm XP are the new National Champions of 4-way Formation Skydiving!

The team took gold Tuesday at the 2019 U.S. Parachute Association National Skydiving Championships at Skydive Paraclete XP in Raeford, North Carolina. They beat out multi-time national champions Arizona Airspeed by a single point in a tiebreaker round.

The team’s win earns them slots on the prestigious U.S. Parachute Team—the nation’s most elite aerial athletes—that will compete at the 2020 World Parachuting Championships in Russia. But first, they head to Skydive Arizona in Eloy this October for the 2019 World Cup, where they will vie for the title of world champion.

In formation skydiving, 4-person teams exit the airplane more than two miles above the ground and race against the clock to form prescribed geometric formations in freefall before opening their parachutes. A videographer also jumps with the team to capture the maneuvers for the judges on the ground.

Both Barron and Happick jump locally at Skydive Carolina.

The 2019 USPA National Skydiving Championships is drawing nearly 600 of the country’s top skydivers to Raeford for the biggest and most thrilling skydiving competition in the country. The event continues through September 27 and is free and open to the public.”