Oceanside CA— San Diego resident Jesse Weyer is the new National Champion of Advanced Canopy Piloting after sweeping the gold medals at last week’s U.S. Parachute Association National Parachuting Championships at Skydive Sebastian in Florida. Not only did Weyher win the overall gold medal in the advanced class, he also won gold in the three individual events: distance, speed and accuracy.
In canopy piloting, often called “swooping,” skydivers fly high-performance parachutes that can generate high vertical and horizontal speeds. By performing speed-inducing maneuvers, these very experienced skydivers can glide inches above the ground for hundreds of yards at speeds approaching 90 mph.

The canopy piloting championships include competitions in speed, in which pilots try to fly as quickly as possible through a course; distance, which involves flying as far as possible across the ground; and accuracy, in which canopy pilots must stop on an exact spot for maximum points.
Weyher, 27, has completed more than 4,000 skydives. He jumps locally at GoJump Oceanside.