St John’s College head of brass Hendri Liebenberg has been awarded senior protea colours for his achievements in wingsuit flying.
Liebenberg competed in the World Wingsuit Flying Championships in Prostejov, Czech Republic in August this year. Wingsuit flying is a sub-discipline of skydiving where participants wear a squirrel-like flying suit which allows them to extend their freefall time and flying distance.
Spokesperson for St Johns’ College Jacqui Deeks said, “A Wingsuit Flying competition consists of nine jumps, in which three separate tasks in distance, time and average horizontal speed, are measured by a GPS tracker unit, mounted on each competitor’s helmet.”
Deeks added, “During the competition, Liebenberg set two new African continental records in the speed and the distance tasks, and is determined to better these records, as well as the current time record, during international competitions over the next two years.”
Liebenberg achieved 260,3km/h in the speed task while also earning a distance record of 3 898m.
He trains at the Johannesburg Skydiving Club in Carletonville, where he is also a wingsuit flying instructor and a freefall videographer.
Details: St John’s College www.stjohnscollege.co.za
