Kate Cooper-Jensen

Kate Cooper-Jensen, born into an adventurous family, discovered skydiving in 1978 at the age of 17 while attending William & Mary. Her first jump was under a classic round canopy after forging her mother’s signature, and she quickly fell in love with the sport. By 1979, she had made 400 jumps and was fully immersed in the skydiving community, mentored by legends like Carolyn “the Queen” Clay​.

After graduating, Kate embarked on a journey across the United States, eventually settling at Skydive Perris in California, where she made her mark in the skydiving world. Over her career, she logged upwards of 14,000 jumps, including 10,000 in formation skydiving (FS). Kate holds multiple local, regional, and national awards in various FS events and has set more than 20 World Records, including the 60-Way Women’s World Record (1986), the 144-Way World Record (1988), the 400-Way World Record (2006), and the 2-point 219-Way World Record (2017)​.

Kate was the only female skydiver to participate in all the “even number” FS World Records – 100, 200, 300, and 400. She also competed in the World Cup and World Championship of Skydiving in 4-way FS Women representing Denmark, and placed 6th at the World Meet in Dubai in 2012. Beyond competing, she organized numerous national and women’s records globally and co-founded Jump for the Cause (JFTC), which raised nearly $3 million for cancer research​.

In addition to her skydiving achievements, Kate climbed notable peaks like Mt. Kilimanjaro and Machu Picchu, and engaged in various adventurous activities. She married Carsten, a fellow skydiver and mountaineer, and together they moved back to Perris, where Kate continues to influence the sport as a coach and organizer with P3 (Perris Performance Plus), hosting major events each year​.