Alfred “Al” Blaschke is the world’s oldest person to tandem skydive! 🪂
He was 106 years 327 days old – yes, over a CENTURY old! – at the time of his jump.
🔎 Tandem skydiving is when you jump out of an airplane connected to an experienced instructor, feel the thrill of freefall, and safely float to the ground with a parachute.
But this wasn't his first time breaking the record. He first broke it in 2020, aged 103, when he jumped out of a moving plane at 14,000 feet (4,267.2 metres) to celebrate his twin grandsons’ college graduations. 🥳
Isn't Al the COOLEST grandpa?!
“That was my dream,” Al told us at the time.
That was his second skydive ever; his first took place 3 years earlier, on his 100th birthday, proving that it's NEVER too late to try something new!
Al decided to do his most recent skydive after his record was broken in 2022 by a Swedish woman named Rut Linnéa Ingegärd Larsson, who was aged 103 years 259 days.
He simply had to try and get his record title back!
The governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, agreed to skydive alongside Al when they met after Al first broke the record.
Bad weather and scheduling issues caused the jump to be postponed 4 times, but they never gave up and, on the morning of 27 November 2023, Al and Greg geared up and boarded the aircraft... 🛩️
They were carried to an altitude of 9,000 feet (2,743.2 metres), where they each attached to their expert instructors and exited the plane into free fall.
Would you ever go skydiving?
Watching on from below were all of Al’s children and grandchildren, as well as various media members and government officials - all of them taking pictures and cheering them on! 🤩
And Al's advice after this life-changing experience?
“If you think you can’t, you’re just underestimating yourself. Everyone is more capable than they think. They just need to make the decision to try.”
So, remember, always believe in yourself and give it your best shot! You'll be amazed at what you can achieve when you put your mind to it.
Congratulations Al, you are Officially Amazing! ❤️
