Skydiving World Records
Skydiving is a sport driven by passion, precision, and the pursuit of greatness. World skydiving records happen in many different ways – massive freefall formations, incredible speeds, stacking multiple parachutes together, guiding your canopy through courses at warp speeds, and so much more!
Before we dive in to learn about different types of skydiving world records, the legends behind the jumps, and the drive behind these epic achievements, let us state today’s date: April 28, 2025. Why? Because records are meant to be broken, and this article is meant to be outdated … soon! So if you read this a couple of years from now and know our info is uncurrent … reach out! We’ll update it ;)
What Is World Skydiving Day?
What is the world record skydive for most skydivers jumped in one day? Launched in 2024, World Skydiving Day is an annual global celebration of skydiving! It’s a day where first-time jumpers and experienced skydivers are encouraged to take to the skies to contribute to a world record of skydiving: most jumps in a day, across the world! The world skydiving record in 2024 was 30,351 jumps made in a single day! (538 of those jumps were made at Perris – come break this record with us on July 12, 2025!)
From Highest Jump To Largest Formation: What’s In A Record?
Skydiving records capture the sport’s most dedicated flyers by showcasing their courage, skill, and innovation. Records are neat, because the same characteristics can be measured across multiple disciplines. For example, we can measure speed in freefall and we can measure speed while swooping in for landing under a parachute – both of these are categories of records people compete to be the best in! Here’s a look at what can go into skydiver records:
Altitude.
How high can you go!? The highest skydive in the world was achieved by Alan Eustace when he jumped from 135,899 feet, just a few months after the highly-publicized RedBull jump by Felix Baumgartner … How is that for your fun fact bank?!? – yeah, you read that right. Advances in technology will undoubtedly allow people to go higher and faster, but for now, Alan takes the cake for highest skydive.
Formations.
Formations come in all shapes and sizes. You can have good ol’ belly Formation Skydiving (FS), Vertical Formation Skydiving (VFS), Canopy Formations (CF), and even wingsuit formations, where wingsuiters ‘flock’ together.
What is the world record for big way skydiving? There are few exciting ways to look at this. The largest skydive on record is an FS jump completed in Thailand in 2006 with 400 skydivers from 29 countries!
What about sequential records? These jumps entail docking, everyone un-docking, and re-docking. There are two phenomenal sequential records set in 2024, both of which had two points – meaning everyone docked (held hands), un-docked (let go), and re-docked (held hands again in a different formation)!
In October, 64 ladies took to the skies to achieve a new, female, full-break sequential record right here at Skydive Perris. In November, a 151-way total-break sequential record was set at Skydive Arizona. A big year for big way!
Speed.
How fast can you reach max-speed in freefall? What about while gliding over a pond under your parachute?! Speed competitors in freefall wear super slick suits and pointy helmets. They exit the aircraft and assume a head-down position, which allows them to reach max speeds. There are legitimate studies that go into assessing the aerodynamics of skydivers to determine how they can reach new limits in velocity.
At nearly 330 mph, Marco Hepp holds the world record in speed! When it comes to canopy flight, Curt Bartholomew flew a standard 70-meter course in 1.747 seconds and holds the world record in speed when it comes to swooping – WILD. Curt’s rockstar wife, Jeannie Bartholomew, holds multiple national and international records, too. Talk about a power couple!
Accuracy.
While some are all about the largest skydive or fastest swoop records, others focus on landing their canopy with accurate finesse. Being able to land a parachute in the right spot is pretty darn important, but these canopy pilots take it to a whole new level.
In true accuracy competitions, not zone accuracy, skydivers are judged on how close they can land to a predetermined target and it’s measured in mere centimeters. The current world record is held by Thomas Jeannerot who landed two centimeters from the target over an accumulated 10 jumps.
Wingsuiting.
Wingsuit skydiver records deserve their own category! Flying a wingsuit poses extra challenges to control the suit, which is why it takes a minimum of 200 skydives to be considered to enroll in a wingsuit course. Just like many non-wingsuit records, these come in solo and group categories:
Sebastián Álvarez just shattered three world skydiving records in wingsuiting: speed, distance, and flight time. He is officially the fastest person on earth, cutting through the wind horizontally at 342 mph – UNREAL! His helmet and suit were both engineered specifically for this skydive at West Tennessee Skydiving with an exit altitude of over 40,000 feet.
What is the largest skydive in vertical wingsuiting? A 38-way! Nearly 40 wingsuiters soared the skies above Skydive Perris to achieve this feat. This was a no-grip wingsuit formation, meaning skydivers were judged on if they flew into their correct spot, at the correct time, and with the correct distance between each jumper. These jumps are extremely precision-based and judged using gridlines like shown below.
photo by Nikko Mamallo
How Many Jumps In 24 Hours?
What is the world record for the most skydive jumps in 24 hours? Jay Stokes did 640 skydives in 24 hours! He did these skydives from low altitudes, rather than going through a minute of freefall every time. Many experienced jumpers are impressed by five or so jumps in a day, so this number is nearly incomprehensible!
Age Is Just A Number!
Skydiving age limits don’t exist. Yes, there’s an age minimum of 18, but you can be as old as you want and still jump out of an airplane! In fact, to encourage old-timers to stay active in the sport, there are designated groups: Parachutists Over Phorty (POPS), Skydivers Over Sixty (SOS), Jumpers Over Seventy (JOS), Jumpers Over Eighty Society (JOES), and even Jumpers Over Ninety Society (JONS). Each of these demographic groups set and break records all the time!
In 2023, at Skydive Perris, SOS jumpers set two world records! They achieved the record for largest skydive of SOS-qualified jumpers with 101 people, and then largest sequential formation with 99 people!
On November 20 2021, Pat Moorehead, the founder of Skydivers Over Sixty, did nine jumps at Skydive Perris to celebrate his 90th birthday! Ten years before, in 2011, he did 81 (yes, eighty-one) jumps to celebrate his 80th. Some skydiving records are downright mind-blowing.
What About SANS Records?
It’s worth mentioning that the Society for the Advancement of Naked Skydiving (SANS) set a world record in formation skydiving (FS) in 2024 with a 32-way! And yes, once you get licensed, you’re able (although not always welcome) to skydive in the nude! Beware of sliding in when you land!!
Who Can Be On A Record?
We all start somewhere! The awesome thing about skydiving is that every single legendary, world-record-holding jumper started at the beginning, just like you. Getting a solid foundation and discovering what discipline(s) you like are your first steps in becoming a world record holder in skydiving. Enrolling in camps, such as big-way camps to learn about safe FS flying, and getting coaching in your discipline of choice is the way to go!
Skydivers are constantly discovering new limits and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the best ways, and these achievements ignite inspiration. Start your journey to being on record-shattering skydives by booking a tandem skydive! And of course, you can attempt to have your first official skydiving record by joining us this next July 12, 2025 at Skydive Perris for World Skydiving Day!
The post Skydiving World Records appeared first on Skydive Perris.