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For 19-year-old Singaporean Kyra Poh, the sky is the limit.

In an exclusive interview with Red Bull on Oct. 14, Poh shared her skydiving journey from "the tunnel to the skies", and recounts her passion for the adrenaline-fuelled sport.

Indoor skydiving world champion

"I really love to fly", says Poh, as the interview begins, explaining why she's been flying for over half her life.

Poh first became exposed to indoor skydiving at eight, together with best friend Choo Yi Xuan (then aged nine) at iFly Singapore, and fell in love with the sport since then.

From the age of 14, Poh went on to clinch gold in multiple indoor skydiving competitions, even bagging herself the title of "World's Fastest Flyer" at the 2017 Wind Games in Catalonia.

https://mothership.sg/2016/10/14-year-old-sporean-teen-is-indoor-skydiving-world-cup-champion/

However, Poh shared that she has always wanted to do her tricks in the skies, and skydive out of a plane one day.

So at 16, which is the legal age to skydive in many countries, Poh did so on her own, for the very first time.

Learning skydiving at 16

According to a video posted on Poh's own YouTube channel, Poh picked up skydiving at Voss in Norway with skydiving partner Choo.

Acknowledging that the risks involved with outdoor skydiving are a lot higher, Poh shared in her video that she had actually been very scared, but that the view around her had more than made up for it, and she "wouldn't trade anything for that".

There were also key differences between indoor skydiving and outdoor skydiving that Poh had to pick up, as she shares in the interview with Red Bull.

This includes learning how to exit from a plane (as the wind is now approaching horizontally rather than from the bottom), gauging weather constraints, and handling all the equipment used in skydiving.

She elaborated:

"I have really good form in the tunnel because that's all I'm focusing on when I'm in the tunnel. I'm just thinking: okay, leg straight, toes pointed, and arms really firm in a really nice body shape. But in the sky, because I have so many things going on in my mind: Is my rig on properly? Am I safe? Do I pull my 'chute? What altitude am I at? I forgot really key points that I needed to still keep my body nice and in a good form. So that was something that definitely took focus and prioritizing."

Becoming a fully licensed skydiver

Unfortunately, a mistake in her landing during her course in Norway left her with a fractured rib, and halted her dreams to become a fully licensed skydiver in 2018.

Subsequent travel restrictions as a result of the pandemic also made it hard for Poh to get back in the skies, although Poh shared that she never stopped training in Singapore.

In 2021, when Spain officially invited Poh over with a Federation Letter, Poh said that she thus jumped at the opportunity, to be able to complete her Class A skydiving license.

And after two weeks of rigorous training and no less than 43 jumps, Poh finally became certified as a licensed skydiver, who is already looking forward to taking part in future competitions.

She is currently just one of two indoor skydiving athletes to be sponsored by extreme sports promoter Red Bull.

Catch Poh in action here:

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Kyra Poh (@kyrapoh)

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Kyra Poh (@kyrapoh)

You can also check out her skydiving experience in Norway on YouTube:

&ab_channel=KyraPoh

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Top image via Kyra Poh/Instagram