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No one has more U.S. National and World gold medals for freefly skydiving than Mike Swanson. His four national titles and three world championships, multiple gold medals at the legendary Space Games, and other major triumphs have set him apart in a very elite group of athletes, and he has also co-organized and participated in five world records for freeflying head down in formation, including the mark of 69 people that was set in 2007 and still stands today. Flying is Mike’s passion and his job – when he’s not doing demos with the Red Bull Air Force, he’s busy coaching skydivers from around the world at his home drop zone in Perris Valley, California, while honing his own skills to an even higher level.

Although born in Duluth, Minnesota (1973), Mike grew up in Vermont. “My father has run the Malone Parachute Club in Swanton since I was five,” Mike says, “so I was there several days a week and grew up around skydiving. When my friends were at home playing baseball, I was at the drop zone.” As a 16-year-old, Mike made his first solo skydive in New York, and two years later he took his first B.A.S.E. jump at West Virginia’s epic New River Gorge. Since then, he’s made more than 16,000 skydives, jumping from as high as 25,000 feet. Licensed to teach and coach, as well as to fly a plane, Mike just grins at the mention of some of his more esoteric achievements, like earning the “Dolphin D” license. (The hardest challenge in a series of freeflying tests, the Dolphin D requires performing aerobatics while simultaneously catching, releasing, and catching two plummeting lead balls.)

These days, Mike still has a lot of balls in the air. People come from all over the world to be coached by Mike and fellow RBAF athletes Jon DeVore and Eli Thompson at the Freefly Mega Center. “I’m someone people tend to contact when they get serious about wanting to learn,” he states. ”We can work with individuals or groups.” And then there’s the training Mike does for himself, like learning to soar in a wingsuit for the upcoming film “Human Flight 3D,” or ramping up his B.A.S.E. jumping skills. “Skydiving, particularly freeflying, is definitely my focus, but I’ve competed in swoop competitions and am doing a lot more B.A.S.E. jumping than I used to,” Mike comments. “My dream swoop would be the Lincoln Memorial.”