The Start of Her Journey: Robin Jandle

I began my skydiving journey 12 years ago on the North Shore of Oahu at the beautiful dropzone; Skydive Hawaii. Learning in Hawaii had its own special challenges and I was fortunate to be surrounded by an awesome crew of instructors. A very good friend of mine convinced me to do my first tandem back in 2010 and it wasn’t soon after that I decided to go through the AFF program.

I had no desire to ever make a skydive and in fact I wasn’t really into the idea of it when my friend had mentioned the tandem. I lived in Hawaii for about 15 years and moved there when I was 18 to manage high-end retail, so skydiving wasn’t something I was really into. I wasn’t sure I was ready to take on a new hobby, but thankful I gave it a shot. I left my job and took a new career path.

I remember being unbelievably nervous through all of my AFF jumps. The conditions in Hawaii can be challenging and jumping over the ocean just seemed wild. My instructors kept me on point throughout my progression and gave me the confidence to continue when I failed a level. I didn’t think at any point that this was going to be easy and made sure to listen, be patient, and take in all of the information given.

I had found it interesting at the time of my AFF course that I was the only female. Once graduated, I took note on the dropzone of the other females working and started asking questions. I wanted to be myself, but a few gals in particular became people I looked up to. It was cool because not only were they extremely talented, but they were tough as nails.

I went on to becoming a full-time videographer at Skydive Hawaii, coach, AFFI, and now have over 8700 jumps. I have dedicated the last seven years to the world of competitive skydiving and began competing in canopy piloting at the 2015 US nationals at Skydive Paraclete XP. Within the last year I decided to make XP my new home and training facility. The dropzone is a bit nostalgic for me since it was my first competition and first time making the US Parachute Team in 2019.

Since making the team I’ve went on to compete at The World Games, setting the Womens US national/continental carving speed record, and the Womens US Continental Distance record in South Africa 2019. I was delighted to recently break the distance record once again at the Skydive Midwest 2022 US Nationals along with my first PRO podium with third overall. Stoked would be an understatement with all the work I’ve put into competing and I can’t wait to keep charging for the 2023 US Nationals and CP World Cup.

Learning at Skydive Hawaii was an absolute blessing. We had legendary talent from years of operating over the north shore and instructors that were PD Factory team members who were a wealth of knowledge. All of these individuals have shaped my progression over the years and it’s important for me to keep continuing that same support for others. I look forward to keep pushing the sport forward and hope that I am able to offer a bit of inspiration for the upcoming generation of skydivers.