Girl On: Roberta Mancino
Apr 18 2007 / Los Angeles, CA
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Besides, we’re not afraid to learn something new, especially if it has anything to do with cool girls who are pushing the limits. Roberta, who is Italian, but spends most of her time in the US, has logged over 3,000 dives (3 in the buff!) and considers paragliding kind of boring. Not fast enough were guessing. Learn more about sky diving here and check out the sky shots of this cool fly girl.
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Lat34: How did you get into skydiving?
RM: My friend Giorgio and I worked at a gym as a full contact instructors and we also competed together. He told me about skydiving and he was jumping about three km from where I lived so one weekend we went together to the drop zone and I made my first jump. It was so exciting and from then I was hooked.
Lat34: What titles do you hold
RM: I participated in the European and Italian freefly records and I have
competed and won most of the international competitions I entered including the Russian Freestyle Invitational, Space Games in Ravenna, Italy and Arezzo in both
freefly and freestyle, and wind tunnel competitions in Orlando and California.
Lat34: Where are you from originally?
RM: I am from Anzio Italy, a small town from the coast south of Rome.
Lat34: What is it about skydiving and why do you do it?
RM: I skydive because I like to fly. I like freestyle in the sky because it is very similar to dancing and I have danced for most of my life.
Lat34: Do you ever get scared?
RM: Sometimes I feel scared but that helps me understand my limits.
Lat34: Any bad experiences ever with a chute malfunction
RM: I have used my reserve parachute 3 times out of 3,000 jumps. I can't explain it all but I can say the reserve parachutes works great.
Lat34: What's the best thing about skydiving
RM: The visuals and feelings you have when flying through the air. The sound is amazing. You have the plane and then you jump and it’s just air.
Lat34: Where is your favorite place to dive?
RM: The Amazon is an incredible place. Also Sardegna and Como Lake in Italy.
Lat34: What's some of the terminology we should know to not be a total geeks on the scene.
RM: Here are 3 things you should know. Freeflying is 3-D body flying. Swooping is High Performance parachute landings, and wind tunnels are indoor body flying, no parachutes necessary.
Lat34: How does one get into sky diving?
RM: Call me. Contact us through www.flightclub.tv
Lat34: What's the worst sky diving line a guy has ever said to you
RM: One of my coaches once asked me to jump with a transparent jumpsuit on one of my student jumps.
Lat34: What is it like to dive naked?!
RM: Jumping naked is really cold. I have only done that 3 times each time for magazines. It is rare to get a good photo because you are going really fast and your skin can move a lot.
Lat34: What other sports do you do
RM: I did full contact for six years and I am black belt. I also did classic,
Latin and hip hop dance for 12 years. I am an advanced scuba diver and I also do a little Paragliding and BASE Jumping.
Lat34: What do you think of BASE jumping and paragliding and other flying sports?
RM: I think Paragliding was a little boring for me after I tried skydiving. I
love BASE jumping and would like to do more. As for other flying sports, you
generally need a lot more money to do them.
Lat34: How are skydivers different from other extreme sports athletes?
RM: Skydivers in general are pretty outgoing, they like to travel and are always ready to try something new.
Lat34: Do you have to have a certain kind of personality to sky dive?
RM: Yes, skydiving is not for everyone. You need to have a strong desire to fly. If you have a good imagination you can dream of the possibilities of human flight and you are ready.
--Shanti Sosienski
