‘First competition where the nerves were high’, says world champ Kyra Poh after World Indoor Skydiving Championships medal haul

SINGAPORE: Reigning world indoor skydiving champion Kyra Poh was especially nervous ahead of her attempt in the solo freestyle open category at the recent World Indoor Skydiving Championships in Slovakia.

It was the last title she needed to secure, in order to become the first athlete in the sport to win in the category across the major competitions, she told CNA’s Singapore Tonight on Friday (Apr 28).

The 21-year-old won gold in last year’s World Cup of Indoor Skydiving. However, the World Indoor Skydiving Championships title had eluded her, as she picked up a silver medal at the last edition in 2019.

She emerged victorious this time, and clinched her 14th gold in the solo freestyle open discipline since picking up the sport at 8 years old.

“This was actually the last title that I had to win, in order to be the first indoor skydiving athlete to win all of the freestyle titles. So I was definitely really happy about that,” said Kyra.

“This was the first competition where the nerves were high. It was definitely much more challenging, but I was able to control (it) under pressure and I think I was really happy about it.”

Kyra was part of a Singapore team which brought home two golds, a silver and a bronze from the competition, which saw over 250 athletes from 25 countries compete across ten categories.

The tournament, which took place from Apr 19 to 22, also saw 15-year-old Isabelle Koh make her World Indoor Skydiving Championships debut.

She finished fourth in the solo freestyle junior category, bouncing back from a spine surgery that had forced her to change her flying style due to her affected flexibility. 

SPINE SURGERY DID NOT STOP HER

Isabelle told CNA’s Singapore Tonight on Friday that she had been diagnosed with scoliosis, a condition that affects the curvature of the spine.

“In late 2021, it got severe to the point where I had to go for corrective surgery, where a metal rod was implanted into my spine to actually correct the curve and keep it straight,” she said.

“This actually affected my flexibility as I can't bend very far back or very far forward, and my torso twisting is also restricted.”

The condition impacted her performance as her flying style was based on flexibility, influenced by her background in gymnastics.

After the surgery, she was forced to adapt to a new style of flying, which focused more on stronger and more powerful moves, so that she could overcome the restrictions placed on her by her back and continue competing.

Isabelle shared that she had started the sport when she was seven years old, after following in the footsteps of her mother.

“My first flight was on my seventh birthday. It was a present from my mum, who actually used to indoor skydive casually with her friends,” she shared.

“She would take me along to the tunnel with her, and I would watch her fly either alone or with her friends and do interesting things. And I found it really cool, so I actually asked her if I could try.”

Isabelle had to wait until she turned seven, which is the minimum age to join the sport in Singapore.

Having won the solo freestyle junior event at the 2018 Asiania Indoor Skydiving Championships, Isabelle is setting her sights on greater glory.

“I actually want to take that achievement to the world level, just like how Kyra did. I'm going to keep working on improving myself. I'm going to take a look at other strong competitors and see how I can learn from them,” she said.

“I'm going to explore more into different flying styles, and I'm overall just going to try and make my way there.”

CHALLENGES IN NEW STYLE

Kyra said everyone on the team did “really well and were really proud of how we did as a whole” at the competition in Slovakia.

It was also her first time taking part in the dynamic four-way open category in the World Indoor Skydiving Championships, as she wanted to “try something new”.

While she has flown with her teammates individually before, this was the first time they were coming together in the category on the world stage, said Kyra.

She said flying with three other people is more difficult and different from what she was used to.

”We all share the same tunnel. It's kind of like four different cars driving at the same time trying to maneuver around one another. However, there's no roads, there's no lines on the roads, and there's not even any traffic lights,” she said.

“So the precision that we have has to be 120 per cent, because we have to fly around one another, over and under one another and even avoid (one another), at the same time flying in unison together.”

Kyra said the team members brought their individual strengths and it all came together nicely, as they took bronze.

Of course, there were some bumps during training as the team familiarised themselves with the routine.

“Definitely when we were training together, we'll have some bumps against one another,” said Kyra.

“But because we had a coach and we always have an instructor at the door, it never got to a point where it was serious. It was always about just flying our own lines and being a 100 per cent into it and putting in our effort.”

Editor's note: The number of categories in which competitors were taking part has been corrected in this article. We apologise for the error. The article has also been updated to correct the age at which Kyra started competing after a clarification by iFly Singapore.