India’s youngest woman skydiver performs ‘rare’ jump in Thailand
ANAMIKA SHARMA’S FIRST OFFICIAL JUMP WAS FROM 10,000 FEET WHEN SHE WAS JUST 11 YEARS OLD. TODAY, SHE HAS OVER 100 JUMPS TO HER NAME, EXECUTED WITH 10 DIFFERENT TYPES OF PARACHUTES AND SIX AIRCRAFT
PRAYAGRAJ: Only months ago, Prayagraj’s Anamika Sharma became the youngest woman in the country to bag a professional skydiving licence. Now, the soon-to-be 22-year-old woman has made history by becoming the first Indian to successfully perform a specific type of jump using a wingsuit, in Thailand.
In the event in which Anamika took part, she jumped off the aircraft with the intention of landing at a targeted area or drop zone. “I made the jump on November 27 in Rayong, Thailand. I exited the aircraft at an altitude of 13,000 feet and used the wingsuit at 6,000 feet. I opened my parachute at 4.000 feet. The aircraft from which I jumped was Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-approved Kodiak,” Sharma, the younger daughter of junior warrant officer (retd) Ajay Kumar Sharma in Sangam city, said. Speaking to HT from Bengaluru, Anamika said: “The fact that I am the first Indian to successfully complete a “wingsuit swing skydive” and just among a handful in the world to have done so, makes me happy,” she added.
Sharma’s first official jump was from 10,000 feet when she was just 11 years old. Today, she has over 100 jumps to her name that were executed with 10 different types of parachutes and six aircraft.
At 21, Anamika had bagged ‘A’ category licence from United States Parachute Association (USPA) and followed it up with a ‘B’ category USPA licence after a jump in Thailand in May this year. Her father is a trained commando of the Indian Air Force and an expert in skydiving.
Even as she pursues bachelor’s in engineering in Bengaluru, her passion for skydiving under the guidance of her fathercoach continues unabated.
She said, “Now everyone talks of women empowerment, as a result of which girls are opting for more fields. This field (skydiving) has an altogether different kind of challenges and huge scope as well, both nationally and internationally.”
“To get the licence of a professional skydiver, she has trained in Moscow and Dubai. She now has jumped 100 times and performed both solo and group jumps,” said father Ajay Sharma, adding that he would be writing to Limca Book of Records to give a place to Anamika for her ‘wingsuit swing skydive’. Anamika, meanwhile, is hopeful about the new air sports policy. “The government in June 2022 came out with a national air sports policy, which will give the needed push to this challenging field of sports,” said Anamika.