Sport
4 April, 2024
Diving to national success
Oakey-educated Natisha Dingle has claimed victory as the 2024 Female Australian Speed Skydiving Champion at Skydive Great Ocean Road in Barwon Heads, Victoria.
Natisha will represent Australia later this year at the 2024 World Skydiving Championships, to be held in the United States.
She beat local competition in the form of Tanita Rutherford and Alexandra Tomasi, the third and fourth fastest women in the world and came third in the open category.
Speed skydiving involves making your body as streamlined as possible to reach the highest possible velocity above a certain exit height.
Scores are recorded by a flysight, a GPS device used to record data.
Competitors are scored based on their vertical speed.
The way that you fly your body plays the most important role in speed skydiving, Natisha told the Champion after breaking a world record last year.
“Finding the perfect line with minimal drag will see your scores improve,” she said.
Natisha has broken 13 world records in total, nine personally, and four as part of a team event.
Two of these are for the fastest vertical female speed without a drogue.
Four world records are with Shane Turner and Merv O’Connell for the highest combined average in each round.
One team record is for the highest combined average over rounds.
Two records were for the highest female average over eight rounds and five for the highest average female speed.
Natisha’s journey started when she met John Friswell of Ripcord Skydivers while attending a careers expo with Oakey State High School at Gatton.
“I was addicted straight away,” she said.
“It feels liberating to go as fast as you possibly can.”
The World Skydiving Championships were due to be held in Israel this year, but have been shifted to the United States due to the ongoing Gaza conflict.
Competition will take place from 4th-12th October at Crystal Coast Skydiving club in North Carolina.
Natisha will be aiming to defend her individual title in the women’s event and help Australia defend their gold in the team event.
This year there will be a new combined male/female team category, with three teams set to compete for Australia.
When she is not competing, Natisha is an instructor at Skydive Ramblers in Toogoolawah.
The Oakey Champion wishes you the best of luck in North Carolina, Natisha!
