When Brock Holmgreen first arrived at the Air Force Academy, a single tandem jump — a gift from his parents when he turned 18 — was the sum total of his skydiving experience.

Less than four years later, Holmgreen, a senior, is a collegiate skydiving champion and a core member of the Academy’s Wings of Blue parachute team.

“I had no idea what Wings of Blue was when I first got here,” said Holmgreen, who was recently awarded Most Competitive Collegiate Skydiver at the 2023 National Collegiate Skydiving Championships.

“This is an amazing opportunity, to get to do what we do.”

Nearly 100 of the nation’s top competitive collegiate skydivers, from 10 colleges, gathered at Lake Elsinore, Calif., to showcase their prodigious aerial skills from Dec. 8 to Jan. 3. Holmgreen and his Academy teammates made a strong showing, setting multiple records for speed and accuracy.

“We’re extremely proud of the competition team,” said Lt. Col. Jarrod Aranda, Wings of Blue’s coach. “As a group, their teamwork was exceptional.”

C1C Brock Holmgreen was awarded Most Competitive Collegiate Skydiver at the 2023 National Collegiate Skydiving Championships. (Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette)

Wings of Blue’s 50-person team is divided into two components: a competition team and a demonstration team. The demonstration jumpers perform before millions of spectators in national and international events, and can often be seen at Air Force Falcons home football games. The competition team has a storied legacy to live up to; the Academy boasts the winningest parachute team in collegiate history.

At a time when many college students go home for winter break, 97 college skydivers traveled to Skydive Elsinore to test themselves against the best in their competitive niche. The 10 colleges represented were: Columbia University; the Georgia Institute of Technology; Iowa State University; University of Connecticut; University of California, Berkeley; University of Maryland; Western Michigan University the three service academies – Air Force, West Point and the Naval Academy.

Cadet 1st Class Dan Smith said the competitive atmosphere added an extra thrill to an already adrenaline-fueled activity.

“When we’re skydiving (at the Academy), you’re training with your friends,” Smith said after a recent practice jump.

“In competition, there’s a little added pressure, especially when you combine that with how dangerous skydiving can be. You’re trying to be cognizant of the safety aspect of skydiving, while also trying to perform and be precise. It’s an interesting combination of things going on in your mind.”

The Air Force parachute team set several California and collegiate records during the competition, including the six-way speed event, which sends jumpers hurtling headfirst toward the earth at speeds approaching 200 mph, and the team sport accuracy event, which requires competitors to land on a target roughly the size of a Frisbee. In an individual accuracy event, Holmgreen and senior teammate Jack Treinish each stuck four dead-center landings, tying a state collegiate record.

“It was a great feeling, knowing that we’d given it all we had,” Holmgreen said. “But more than that, it’s going up in the plane and knowing you’re about to perform and skydive with some of your best friends. That was the biggest thing for me.”

Based on his standout performance during the team and individual events, the U.S. Parachute Association presented Holmgreen with the Most Competitive Skydiver award. The award came with the André Istel Memorial Scholarship, which he donated to the jumpers at Western Michigan University.

“I passed the scholarship to Western Michigan because I was impressed with their performance at the competition and their dedication to our sport,” he said. “I was happy to donate it to someone who could use it.”

In a few months, Holmgreen will graduate from the Academy, accept a commission as 2^nd Lieutenant, and begin training as a combat rescue officer. But his ironclad bond with his Wings of Blue teammates — forged by hundreds of jumps from airplanes — will last a lifetime, he said.

“We’ve been building a chemistry together for three years,” Holmgreen said. “What we’ve built here is a family.”