OutdoorsJanuary 1, 2004

Team that includes former Lewiston woman wins national league title in sky-diving contest

Once you've jumped from an airplane a few dozen times, the adrenaline-fueled thrill disappears.

Oddly enough, the rush of fear is replaced with a feeling of relaxation, according to Debbi and Dave Correia of Bothell, Wash. The skydiving couple say the thrill of competition replaces that pit-of-the-stomach side effect of fear.

The Correias and two other people teamed up to win the national skydiving league championship in November in Florida.

Debbi Correia (formerly Fortney), 40, moved to Lewiston when she was an infant and lived here until she was 30. She moved to the Seattle area that year and started skydiving.

"I wanted to do it since I was a kid," she says.

Dave, 50, who has been jumping for 30 years, was coaching sky divers new to the sport and the two started jumping together. They eventually married and two years ago started competitive jumping, where teams of four jump together and then contort themselves into predetermined formations before pulling their chutes and slowly sinking back to earth.

The couple visited relatives in Lewiston during the holidays.

The sport takes lots of practice time and organization to make sure the team members know all the formations and the most efficient way to move from one formation into the next. During competitions they only have 35 seconds to make the required formations, which are drawn at random.

"It was hard to imagine that commitment." Debbi says.

Their first year of competition was laid back but last year was more intense. The team met during the week and practiced on the ground by laying on "creepers."

Debbi describes the devices as wheeled backboards similar to ones mechanics use to scoot under cars. The team members lay on the creepers and practice their formations.

"It's very visual -- being able to mentally see the picture," Dave says.

Jumpers use a combination of gravity and wind to move their bodies during free fall. A subtle movement of the arms and legs is all it takes to move in or out, or rotate one way or another.

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"It's all air deflection," Debbi says.

The teams are filmed during their jumps, and on-the-ground judges look at the film to make sure the teams successfully completed all the required formations.

"We all have to be connected at the same time," says Debbi.

As center, or team leader, it's Dave's job to make sure everyone is in position and the formation is completed before the team breaks and comes back together to make another formation.

Debbi was a cheerleader in high school, but never participated in a competitive sport. She was surprised how much she enjoys it.

"I never thought of myself as competitive, but when we get in these competitions I want to win."

Friends and relatives in Lewiston are always surprised to find out she is a competitive sky diver. She is 5 feet tall and has to wear a 14-pound weight belt to keep up with the other members of her team during free fall.

The team, called Victims of the Wind, is one of the few teams from the Pacific Northwest to place well at national competitions. Because of persistent rainy and cloudy weather, teams from this corner of the country have fewer days to practice.

"We are at a real disadvantage with our weather," Dave says. "It's really unusual to see a Northwest team go that far."

The Correias and teammates Jeffrey Smith of Bothell and Alan Keyser of Kent will move into a more difficult division next year and look forward to June, when their season begins.

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Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com

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