Clean swoop

IT’S not every day you get to see what looks like a giant doily fall from the sky.

Jumping for breast cancer research, 151 female skydivers from across the U.S. and 15 other countries broke the world record for women’s formation skydiving in Perris on Sept 30.

The event was organized by Jump for the Cause in conjunction with the Perris Valley Skydiving Center, and the record was certified by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale, in Lausanne, Switzerland -- the official accrediting body for aviation records.

It seems that there are a lot of other folks falling from the sky as well. Here are a few records compiled from FAI reports and Guinness World Records:

Largest freefall skydive

formation: 357 men and women, Takhli, Thailand, 2004

Oldest solo skydive: 92 years old, Herb Tanner, Ohio, 1998

Fastest skydiving speed: 325.67 mph, Michael Brooke, Gap, France, 1999

Largest canopy formation: 70 men and women (linked together, with parachutes open, to form a design), Lake Wales, Fla., 2003

Highest skydive by a dog: 15,000 feet by Brutus, a miniature dachshund, accompanied by owner Ron Sirull, Lake Elsinore, 1997

Most skydives, men: 36,000 dives by Don Kellner, since 1961

Longest distance for canopy piloting: 494 feet (skimming the ground with parachute open), Perris, by Jonathan Tagle, 2005

-- Janet Cromley