Sport
30 August, 2023
A falling star
Oakey raised and educated Natisha Dingle is now officially the world’s fastest woman having clocked a speed of 496.22 kilometres per hour in free-fall at the FAI World Cup of Speed Skydiving in the Czech Republic last week.
While jumping out of a plane to fall as fast as possible might not be everyone’s cup of tea, Natisha has found that she’s the best in the world at doing it.
Speed skydiving involves making your body as streamlined as possible to reach the highest possible velocity above a certain exit height.
“The score is recorded by a flysight which is a device that uses GPS to record data and we are scored on the vertical speed,” Natisha told the Champion after her jump.
The sport is not heavily recognised in Australia as of yet, but it has a national body, the Australian Parachute Federation based in Logan, Queensland.
Besides her individual win, Natisha also helped Australia’s skydiving team to take gold in the team event.
She said her talent is all down to her ability to find the most aerodynamic position.
“The way that you fly your body plays the most important role in speed skydiving. Finding the perfect line with minimal drag will see your scores improve,” she said.
The Biddeston State School and Oakey High-educated talent says she’s going to have to work hard to beat the increasing level of competition in the sport.
“I keep reaching the goals I set however as the sport progresses, everyone’s speed improves, so it’s not an easy feat,” she said.
Natisha’s journey started while attending a careers expo with Oakey State High School at Gatton.
It was there she heard Ripcord Skydivers representative John Friswell talking about the sport as a career pathway.
“He gave me $25 off a tandem skydive and I saved all money by working after school,” Natisha explained.
“I asked my mum if she would drive me to Gatton skydivers and she said yes.
“I did my first skydive at the age of 15.”
She says she found out about competitive speed-diving from her now-friend Shane Turner
“I was addicted straight away,” she said.
“It feels so liberating to go as fast as you can.”
Natisha still visits Oakey to catch up with friends she knows from her time growing up here.
“I would love to come back to Oakey High and talk about my journey with them,” she said.
Natisha will defend her title next year at the 2024 FAI World Cup in Israel.
“My plan moving forward is to secure some more sponsorship and try and train all year leading up to competition,” she said.
“My long term goal is to be the fastest person in the open division. I am dedicated and passionate about reaching my full potential in this sport.”
