Tatler Singapore

FLYING HIGH

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What does it feel like to complete over 50 skydiving jumps, ride winds as fast as 230 km/h, or complete 68 backward somersault­s in a wind tunnel (in under a minute, no less)? Most of us might never know, but national indoor skydiving champion Kyra Poh knows the feeling only too well. So much so that she’s bagged over 30 medals (including the Champion award in the World Cup of Indoor

Skydiving in 2018), four Guinness World Records, and even the title of “World’s Fastest Flyer”.

She shares: “The feeling is indescriba­ble. For me, it feels like the sky is my infinite playground; my fingertips are always tingling in the wind and I feel extremely happy. My favourite part is definitely the moment I jump out of the plane where one moment I have my feet on the floor and the next second I’m completely airborne—feeling like I’m on top of the world.”

Indoor skydiving is still largely considered a niche sport, and only gained traction here when the first facility, ifly Singapore, opened to the public in 2011. It is also home to the world’s first largest themed wind tunnel, measuring almost five storeys high. For Poh, this was where her passion for indoor skydiving took off. “I started skydiving when I was eight years old because my mother was helping ifly Singapore with their advertisem­ents then. I started competing in 2012 and have been flying for more than a decade now.”

Most recently, Poh received an invitation from the Royal Spanish Aeronautic­al Federation to train in Empuriabra­va, Spain, to become a qualified skydiver. Athletes have to first complete their Accelerate­d Freefall Course comprising five categories. She had initially completed hers in 2018 in Norway, but wasn’t able to attain her A licence—the first jump course to start skydiving on your own— due a bad landing which caused a rib fracture.

She is adamant about completing the course so that she can take her moves to the skies. “I was more driven than ever to complete this long-awaited milestone this year. So when I received the invitation, I knew it was a chance I couldn’t miss.”

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