Wakefielder Competing With U.S. Parachute Team

The following was provided by the U.S. Parachute Team:

Wakefield native Matt Davidson has earned a coveted slot on the prestigious U.S. Parachute Team that will compete at the World Parachuting Championships later this year in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Davidson is a member of the U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team, which earned a slot on the U.S. Team by winning the 8-way formation skydiving event at the 2011 U.S. Parachute Association National Skydiving Championships last November.

The U.S. Parachute Team, the country’s most elite aerial athletes, will include a delegation of more than 60 skydivers. They will compete against the best skydivers from around the world in multiple events for the title of world champion.

In 8-way formation skydiving, the team leaps from an aircraft more than two miles above the ground and then races against the clock to form prescribed geometric formations in freefall while falling at speeds upward of 120 mph before opening their parachutes.

Davidson, 38, has completed an astounding 17,500 skydives and has been jumping since 1990. He is currently stationed in North Carolina where he trains with the Golden Knights. He has a four-month-old daughter and enjoys CrossFit, mountain biking and kayaking.