- Two Utah women set a world record in wingsuit skydiving in Czech Republic.
- Elizabeth Brott and Becca Jordan achieved 12 grips, a new world record.
- They are among the first all-female teams and aim to inspire more women.
SALT LAKE CITY — Two Utah women are quite literally flying high after setting a world record for the most grips in a round at the FIA World Cup of Wingsuit Flying in the Czech Republic.
Elizabeth Brott, 29, of Salt Lake City, and Becca Jordan, 27, of Moab, didn't just set a world record, but did it as one of the first-ever all-female teams to compete at the event. Both said that being part of something like this was more than they had ever dreamed of.
"It feels fierce to have accomplished this," Jordan said. "The opportunity for women is so high, so it feels like an honor to be one of the first all-female teams."
Wingsuit flying is a type of skydiving where a person wears a fabric "squirrel" suit with wings between the arms and torso as well as the legs, allowing them the chance to glide through the air at speeds of upwards of 200 mph. Brott and Jordan competed in acrobatic flying, which has three-person teams – two performers and a camera flyer – who perform an artistic series of grips and maneuvers. The two performed 12 grips in between each maneuver, which was a new world record.
"I never thought that I would be jumping out of airplanes, competing and getting world records, but here I am! It feels amazing!" Brott said.
Brott, who began skydiving at age 19, said that wingsuit flying was the perfect way to satisfy her long-held love of flying.
"When I was 19, I wanted to do something out of the ordinary," she said. "I said, 'You know what, why don't I jump out of an airplane?' So I did a tandem jump, and I was completely hooked after that. I've also always wanted to fly. I was actually doing my private pilot license to fly an airplane and I wanted to do acrobatic airplane flying, which is pretty expensive. So about halfway through, I ran out of money, but since I had already been skydiving and I knew about wingsuiting, I was like, 'I'll just fly myself. I'll be the airplane!'"
Jordan's introduction to wingsuiting also began with a tandem skydiving experience, but she said it was not so much the adrenaline that got her hooked to the sport, but the calming aspect of it.
"I was an avid climber back in 2018, and it was on a climbing trip where someone introduced wingsuiting to me," Jordan said. "Seeing people who fly off cliffs in wingsuits and flying like birds, just really resonated. I thought it was neat that humans are exploring things wildly out of their element and there's something really beautiful about it. … I think wingsuiting can get a stigma that it's a bunch of 'send-it' adrenaline monkeys, but I don't see it that way at all.
"It's a band of people who are super intelligent and calm. For me, it's this super calming present focus that I get in the sky. It's like serenity almost. I think everyone should try it."
And while both Jordan and Brott are advocates for the sport, there is a certain demographic they hope to inspire: women.
"We competed at nationals last year and became the first All-American female team, and it was just super cool," Jordan said. "I think that's what inspired Elizabeth and I to start in the first place, because there hasn't been an all-ladies team, and how cool would that be?"
Brott said that she loves the challenge of being in a male-dominated sport and carving out space for herself in hopes that other women will do it, too.
"I'm an engineer and unfortunately, it can be kind of hard to be seen or taken seriously in this field as a woman," Brott said. "Wingsuiting is also a male-dominated field. There were seven women out of 17 men competing at the World Cup this year, and for performance, there's only two women out of 35 men. There can be some unconscious biases going around, but being an engineer, it taught me how to deal with that type of unconscious bias and continue to push forward."
The two of them are still very much pushing forward, as both are competing at individual events at the 2025 USPA National Skydiving Championships in Lake Elsinore, California. The duo has also earned their coaching ratings, allowing them to teach others how to fly. To learn more about wingsuiting and to follow Jordan and Brott's journey, follow them on Instagram @toughtampons.
