On Saturday in Eloy, Arizona, just south of Phoenix, 63 women from across the globe lept from three separate airplanes roughly 18,000 feet up and , breaking the female head-first formation skydiving record by a long shot, .
The record was previously held by 41 women in 2010. The event was verified by the Swiss-based Federation Aeronautique Internationale at the site, said Nancy Koreen, U.S. Parachute Association director of sport promotion.
The previous day, about 800 miles west at the Jump Center at the Lodi Airport in California, 90-year-old Wanita Zimmerman was blowing kisses from the sky at a speed of 120 mph, . The Elk Grove, California native thought the dive would make an excellent birthday present to herself.
“I did it on my 85th birthday five years ago and it was so much fun that I decided to do it again,” she told NBC before her celebratory freefall.
Zimmerman, who plunged in tandem with a professional, was accompanied by her doctor, her doctor’s daughter, and her 69-year-old son, Gary. When asked whether she’d take the leap of faith again, she said: “We’ll see how I feel when I’m 95.”