ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. — David Grauwels has almost 14,000 jumps in his life: “from New Zealand, to Brazil, to Norway, and of course to the United States.”
Dennis Praet has 10,000 jumps: “It gives a sensation of flying and freedom.”
And Neal Willems is more of a newbie with about 4,000 jumps.
“Every day we stand up with it. We sleep with it. It’s what we do,” said Willems.
All are members of the Belgian Army, and their job is skydiving.
They are part of the four-way competition team called HayaBusa, Japanese for fast bird.
The goal is to perform as many different formations in just 35 seconds while free falling to Earth.
To master it, they train here at Sky Dive City in Zephyrhills.
“Pasco County is the place we like the best. So, it’s good weather, good atmosphere. We have a lot of sports facilities, and of course Sky Dive City is helping us the most,” said Grauwels.
Qatar’s military team trains here too, so do the UK and Canada.
“In Europe and other parts of the world, it's winter now so it’s quite cold for sky diving so we use this chance to come here,” said Pavel Skotak.
Pasco’s tourism department, Florida Sports Coast, said several teams train at Sky Dive City and it helps reinforce the area as a premier sports destination.
Pasco also benefits from the travel-related spending.
“Definitely see a lot of growth in this area. Buildings are coming up left and right. Housing for people and it’s just very impressive to see how they build it up here,” said Praet.
The teams get to check out local restaurants and do activities like a little pickleball at the SVB Tennis Center.
But most of the time is spent jumping, sometimes 12 times a day.
“We are training so very hard to show ourselves in a competition, and if that all comes together and you receive your gold medal you know that all the hard work eventually pays off,” said Grauwels.
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