Greenwich Native Wins Gold At National Skydiving Competition

GREENWICH, CT — Andrew Yin remembers the first time he decided he was going to jump out of a plane. He nervously sat aboard the aircraft wondering what he had gotten himself into. Miles above the ground, it was only a matter of time before he would have to take the ultimate leap of faith.

Then he jumped, resulting in a feeling he described as "pure bliss."

"It really is a feeling unlike any other," Yin said in an email. "Nowadays I’m thinking about whatever dive I have planned for that particular jump. Freefall is oddly relaxing and I still have so much fun on each and every jump."

A Greenwich native who turns 22 on Saturday, Yin has now made that leap hundreds of times; approximately 700 times to be exact. It is this dedication and love for a somewhat unconventional sport that earned him gold last week at the 2018 U.S. Parachute Association National Collegiate Parachuting Championships in Arizona, the oldest and biggest collegiate skydiving event in the world. (To sign up for Greenwich breaking news alerts and more, click here.)

According to a press release, Yin won a gold medal in the Advanced 4-way Formation Skydiving event, during which teams leap from an aircraft more than two miles above the ground and race against the clock to form prescribed geometric formations in freefall before opening their parachutes.

This year, 13 UConn students joined 73 collegiate skydivers from around the country to compete for the national champion title in four disciplines, including formation skydiving.

Yin, a UConn senior majoring in mechanical engineering, said he only started skydiving because of a club at the school.

"I had done a tandem skydive the summer before my freshman year and had no idea there was more to the sport," Yin said. "I found the club at UConn and started getting my license the second weekend of school. I quickly fell in love with the sport and the people."

The UConn skydiving team consists of around 15 members, including one 4-Way team, CT True Blue, that spends the year training and represents the school at Collegiates.

Yin has been a True Blue member for the past two years, however he opted not to be on the team this year as he turned his focus toward training for another event. He was nonetheless called upon to help at the last minute after a team member got a doctor's orders not to jump.

With only a few days left before the big day, Yin was asked to fill in due to his experience at 4-Way. As the team spent their limited time practicing as a team, another member's injuries prevented her from competing, resulting in yet another last minute replacement.

According to Yin, typical training involves spending the year with dedicated training days, during which an entire day is spent doing 4-Way jumps. The team makes trips to Skyventure in New Hampshire to practice their free fall skills in a vertical wind tunnel.

"Obviously this was not a typical year and the team that ended up competing had no training together," Yin said, "but we all had at least some 4-Way experience on different teams."

The team's accomplishment was even more remarkable in that they are the only gold medalists at Collegiates who did not come from a military academy.

"I feel very proud of my team," Yin said. "With essentially zero training as a team we really pulled together and performed surprisingly well."

Rest assured, Yin also has no plans of retiring as champion anytime soon, and encourages everyone to also take that leap of faith.

"I’m a firm believer that everyone should try skydiving at least once in their lives," Yin said. "Get out of your comfort zone and go experience one of the greatest feelings of freedom out there. I’m thinking of getting my tandem rating this year so that I could take my family and friends with me."

Photo credits: USPA/David Cherry