“Set a goal to become a millionaire, for what it will make of you to achieve it.”

This quote from entrepreneur, author and motivational speaker Jim Rohn marked the start of a new sporting chapter for our instructor Lena. Inspired by this thought, she set herself new goals in indoor skydiving to improve her flying skills faster and in a more targeted manner. Her first goal: to take part in the 2023 Swiss Championships. “At the time, however, I would never have thought that so much could change for me in just one year,” she says, looking back with surprise. Even then, she, who has been practising indoor skydiving as a sport since 2020, performed so well in her freestyle discipline that she qualified for the European and World Championships. It was clear to her then:

“Now I’m going to do it – and I’m going to do it properly!”

This was followed by a lot of training outside and inside the tunnel. First of all, she spent a lot of time looking at which movements and techniques were available and which she could learn in the time she had set herself. Then it was a case of practise, practise, practise. Lena received help from Amalie Hegland Lauritzen, the first European freestyle champion and former world number three, who regularly runs training camps at the Windwerk. Lena was coached three times by Johannes Heptner and Daphny Morali in Germany. “But I also had to try out a lot and find out for myself,” says Lena. The next step: combining the individual movements and sequences into a fluid routine. And then practise, practise, practise again. Lena laughs: “There were certainly one or two moments when I could no longer see or hear my routine and my song.”

At the Swiss Championships in March 2024, Lena secured second place and a ticket to Macau/Hong Kong. As Switzerland’s only representative at the European Championships and the World Cup, she made the long journey alone. But once there, Lena was delighted to meet up with many old friends. She already knew some of them from skydiving or various skydiving events. She also quickly got to know many other interesting people during training in the days leading up to the competition. When Lena was the only Swiss woman on stage alone at the opening ceremony, the delegation from Singapore roared from ear to ear. What great support!

The biggest problem in the first few days was jet lag. Fortunately, Lena had planned so that she was on site early enough to get used to the time change before the official competition. Training on site was then relaxed. “I was incredibly nervous before the rounds, but during the competition I really enjoyed delivering my performance.” And Lena can be extremely proud of what she has achieved: She confidently secured 8th place at the 3rd FAI European Indoor Skydiving Championships and flew to 12th place at the 5th FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving. “After the competition, I was relieved, but also a little sad that it was over. At the same time, I was highly motivated and simply happy and grateful that I was able to have this experience and make so many new friends. My original goal was simply to be there. When it was clear that there would be 20 participants in the freestyle category, I said that it would be nice if I finished in 17th or 16th place. I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved.” And she already knows that she will set herself even higher goals.

Lena has received support in many ways. Be it in the form of tips, coaching, tunnel time and training (Windwerk and Indoor Skydiving Bottrop), shifts taken on by colleagues and relief when everything got a bit too much. She got her much-praised competition suit from Boogieman on favorable terms.

Lena is glad that she was able to have this experience. The great atmosphere, lots of people in one place who share the same passion, cheering each other on, celebrating together. What does she want to pass on? “You can achieve a lot if you put your mind to it. I would like to encourage everyone to simply take a chance. It’s worth it!”