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Bella Capra, Canby’s pint-sized competitive skydiving sensation, continues to soar to new heights. The Ninety-One School eighth-grader recently returned home from competing at the FAI Indoor Skydiving World Cup in Belgium — with some new hardware for her crowded trophy case.
Capra, 14, earned second-place honors in the dynamic 2-way junior event with teammate 16-year-old Jill Knutson from New York, and nabbed another silver medal with her dynamic 4-way team, which also includes Kiana Adamson, 15, of Colorado, and Gianna Keuer, 15, from Illinois.
The quartet, dubbed Team Volare, also made some “girl power” history as the first all-female 4-way team to compete at a World Cup of Indoor Skydiving event. They finished second in the junior division to a team from Singapore and may have set a North American record in the event (ratification pending).
The overseas experience was “life-changing,” Capra tells the Current.
“It was exciting and an honor to meet the world’s best fliers,” she says. “Everyone was so friendly and supportive of one another. The sportsmanship was incredible!”
Despite her years of experience and countless hours of training at the iFly Indoor Skydiving Center in Portland and with her teammates across the country, Capra unsurprisingly felt some internal butterflies fluttering about before stepping into the wind tunnel.
“During the competition, I felt excited and nervous, but had to stay calm in order to focus on what I was doing,” she says.
The honor of representing Team U.S.A. in an international event — and bringing home two silver medals — was an indescribable feeling.
“Holding the American flag on the podium is an experience I’ll never forget,” she says, adding that she and her teammates will soon begin training for the 2023 event.
“Next year, we will go for gold!” she promises with a grin.
Capra, Knutson and the rest of Team Volare qualified for the World Cup event in November after finishing second at the U.S. Nationals in El Paso. Since the nationals do not yet have a junior division, Volare competed at the adult level — beating some adult male teams in the process.
Team Volare is coached by Mike Wittenburg, a world-renowned professional skydiver from Naperville, Illinois.
Capra has been involved with competitive indoor skydiving for five years, having fallen in love with the sport after receiving a first-time “flight” as a gift from her dad for her ninth birthday.
You can follow her adventures on Instagram @bb.rose.skysurfer.