World champions in skydiving!
At Safran, parachutes are not only a product, but also a passion for many employees. Among them are two great champions who are collecting gold medals in Canopy Formation.
Safran is very proud to count among its employees high-level athletes who practice their passion while carrying out their professional activities.
On October 17, 2022, two of our Safran Electronics & Defense employees, members of the French A* team, won the gold medal in canopy formation 2-way sequential at the 2022 World Championships in Eloy, Arizona, USA. Alexandra Petitjean and Renaud Hemon have built up an extraordinary track record in this discipline and in several categories such as team in canopy formation 4-way sequential, where they won the silver medal with several other members of the French team.
*France is represented by two teams. During these last World Championships, the French B team won the bronze medal.
A spectacular discipline
The canopy formation consists of performing, from a drop at 2,000 meters, open parachute figures. As soon as they get out of the plane, the performers open their parachute to build a formation. They carry out landings on the canopy of their teammates by grips made with either the feet or the hands.
The third member of the team is the video man who must never lose sight of his teammates otherwise the takes would not be approved.
Here are the portraits of our champions:
ALEXANDRA PETITJEAN
Employee of Safran Electronics & Defense, Technical Department in Massy.
At only 35 years old, Alexandra Petitjean has already had a remarkable career. She started skydiving in 2009 and has made 6100 jumps and 60 hours in the wind tunnel.
Her record of achievement:
Quadruple world champion, 3 times vice world champion, 2 times world cup winner, double European champion, 1 time international winner, 1 bronze medal in international, septuple French champion, 2 times vice French champion, and bronze medal at the French championship.
RENAUD HEMON
Employee of Safran Electronics & Defense at the Industrial Department in Joué-lès-Tours
Renaud Hermon is 41 years old. His career path is just as impressive. He started skydiving in 2006 and has made 3,000 jumps and 10 uphill flights.
His record of achievement:
Double world champion, vice world champion, world cup winner, European champion, and French champion.
World record too !
The canopy formation 2-way sequential is the most recent discipline of the canopy formation. It has evolved a lot technically in recent years. “Orienting” flight techniques have made it possible to gain a lot in speed over the past ten years.
The current world record is held by France (Guillaume Dubois, Alexandra Petitjean and David Huet) with 56 points. It was established in 2017 during the European Championships in Saarlouis (Germany).
Congratulations to our champions !
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