Shana Harris Canopy Piloting Championships Interview

Canopy Piloting Nationals Sees Record-Breaking Number of Female Competitors

The 2019 Australian and New Zealand Canopy Piloting Championships have come to a close in Perth, and female parachutists won big – recording the most female competitors in a Canopy Piloting competition ever.

Seven women contested the intermediate division title, with Shana Harris and Amy Jamieson taking the top two spots for females and 12th and 14th place respectively.

Interview with Shana Harris

Question: Congratulations on taking a top spot at the 2019 Australian and New Zealand Canopy Piloting Championships! How does it feel to be part of the record-breaking participation?

Shana Harris: Thanks! It was a really special event for me and Canopy Piloting in Australia – to have seven women come together and support each other at the competition was absolutely amazing. The group gelled really well together, and with a wide range of experience levels between us, we all got a chance to learn from each other throughout the week. Of course, we learnt a bit from our coach, Ronnie too. So massive thanks to the ladies, Ronnie and all the competitors for making me feel welcome and showing me a great time at my first competition!


Question: What is Canopy Piloting?

Shana Harris: Canopy Piloting is a discipline in skydiving that's all about flying your parachute first. We compete over a body of water or 'pond' where we have to fly through a series of gates, no higher than 1.5m above the pond to receive a score. There are 3 different disciplines which are: speed – go through the gates as fast as possible, distance – go through the gates then fly as far past them as possible, and accuracy – go through the gates (you get more points if you drag your foot through the water) then land in or as close as possible to a 1m square box.


Question: How long have you been a Canopy Pilot?

Shana Harris: I've been skydiving for seven years, so I guess I've been a Canopy Pilot for seven years! I've been interested in Canopy Piloting as a discipline for about three years. When you first start skydiving, you need to fly a big slow canopy, and then as you gain experience, you can start to fly faster and more responsive canopies and learn how to increase your speed. There's a bit of progression to get to this point, and to keep safe in the sport, it's important not to rush this stage.


Question: What originally inspired your passion for Canopy Piloting?

Shana Harris: I have a brilliant mentor that I work with at Skydive Oz – her name is Jules. She showed me that chicks can dominate the sky just as much as any guy can, so I guess that really kicked off my passion for the sport. When I bought my first small and fast canopy (which was also rainbow coloured, how can you possibly go wrong?!), I discovered that I wasn't as scared of speed as I thought I was, and suddenly I wanted to go FASTER! I've done a bunch of training since this time, and going to a competition was the next step to test out my newfound skills in this fast-paced sport.

Question: What challenges have you had to overcome participating in a male-dominated sport?

Shana Harris: Most of the challenges I've faced have been with my own confidence levels, which is something I think a lot of guys don't have an issue with. A lot of the time, the men in the sport have been super encouraging to me (and other women!). Most of us just want to see each other succeed. Strength has played a bit of a factor, but most of the time you can get around that by working your technique.


Question: What's a typical weeks training like for you?

Shana Harris: I do about 15 to 20 jumps on average each week. Luckily for me, I work in the skydiving industry so I get to jump almost every day! Unfortunately, there's no pond where I work, so attending the pre-competition training camps is very important for success.


Interview by Brooke Hunter