Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Kennett skydiver to swoop San Diego waterfront
KENNETT SQUARE » Kennett Square native Ian Bobo is heading to the 2018 Swoop Freestyle World Championships in downtown San Diego September 14-15. The event is the first of its kind in the U.S., expected to draw upward of 50,000 spectators to the Embarcadero Marina Park South. Bobo is among 18 of the world’s best canopy pilots who will fly their parachutes mere inches above the water at speeds approaching 90 mph, and spectators will have a front-row seat for the high-speed action!
In canopy piloting, often called “swooping,” skydivers fly highperformance parachutes that can generate intense vertical and horizontal speeds. By performing speed-inducing maneu-
vers, these skydiving pros can glide inches above the ground and water for hundreds of yards, while showcasing dynamic and complicated moves.
Free to attend and open to the public, the world championships will also include a variety of entertaining air, land and water demonstrations, including a Friday night exhibition – with solo and team canopy swooping, wingsuit skydiving, powered paragliding and more – live music, athlete meet and greets, and food vendors.
Bobo, 47, has been skydiving for 29 years and has completed more than 21,000 skydives. He holds multiple world champion titles.
For more information about the event, visit www. swoopfreestyle.com. And to see what swoop freestyle is all about, check out this video.
Founded in 1946, the United States Parachute Association (USPA) is a non-profit association dedicated to the promotion of safe skydiving nationwide, establishing strict safety standards, training policies and programs at more than 220 USPA-affiliated skydiving schools and centers throughout the United States.