“Skydiving was my life” – Life as a professional skydiver

Later on this year, in November, the British Indoor Skydiving Nationals will be held in Lille, France. 

Dan Parker is a member of the team, and he has been skydiving since 1997 when he was 16 years old.

He was introduced to skydiving by his mum and dad, who themselves met each other through skydiving, and the sport has had a huge impact on his life.

He said, “I think skydiving was my life for a long time, but life is fun and about having fun and skydiving is very fun.”

Mr Parker has travelled all over the world competing in competitions. From North America to Russia and everywhere in between, he has plenty of stories to tell about his time in the sport.

Despite all these experiences, Mr Parker believes it is the people involved that make skydiving what it is.

He said, “I’ve had a good time, skydiving is a lot of fun, and the people you do it with are the reason why you continue on. You meet a lot of nice, fun people.

“It transcends age and wealth because we all have one common goal.”

Mr Parker took some years away from the sport, but he returned in 2023 to be part of the MDMP team, and within a year, they became the champions at the British Indoor Skydiving Nationals.

Although he joined a new team, he has always had trust in those he is working alongside.

“Before you join the team, you sort of understand who you are flying with anyway and the more you train together, you’re much more of a unit.”

Currently, the team are training once a week ahead of the National events at the end of the year, with the outdoor skydiving competition also taking place during the autumn period.

There will be eyes on the sport ahead of the national competitions this year, however, Mr Parker believes there are still some common misconceptions surrounding the sport.

He said, ” I think there is a lot of sensationalism, and you only really hear about deaths in the news.

“The safety aspect has improved; a lot of thought goes into making the sport safe through good practice and good equipment.”

The increase in safety procedures, such as improved training, regulation and attentive equipment inspection and maintenance, has led to decreased fatality and injury rates.

“In the past, people were able to go out and buy whichever parachutes they liked. Now it is more regulated, and there are now pathways to getting onto the smaller, faster jumps.”

Mr Parker believes that the new safety procedures are a key part of the skydiving community today, as well as the competitiveness in the sport.

He said, ” I think there is an emphasis on safety today, as well as emphasis on technical ability. The wind tunnel has brought it away from being a hobby to a competitive sport.”

Despite this increase in competition, the team still have their eyes set on bringing home the national championships later this year.

Although the outdoor team champions “might have the edge” on MDMP, there is a belief they will be “hot on their tail”.

Regular updates on the team can be found on their instagram page @mdmp_vfs

(Cover photo taken by Daniel Moffat)