Irish poet Brendan Francis Behan once wrote: “Many of our fears are tissue-paper-thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them.” Lis Andriana believes every word of it, Jakarta Globe reported.
Lis, a 29-year-old Indonesian skydiver, became the women’s paragliding accuracy world champion last week after the season ended with the Super Finals in Tirol, Austria, on Oct. 6.
She won the Super Finals and a day later was inaugurated as the world champion because she led the women’s standings of the Paragliding Accuracy World Cup after four series this season. Marketa Tomaskova of the Czech Republic and Tamara Kostic of Serbia were second and third overall.
Lis also won in Sabah, Malaysia, on March 18 and in Budva, Montenegro, on May 6. Her worst result came on May 11, finishing eighth in Vlore, Albania, but she bounced back with a second-place finish at the last series before the Super Finals in Wasserkuppe, Germany, on Sept. 28.
Lis continued Indonesia’s domination in the accuracy event’s women’s division after Milawati Sirin took the title last year and Ifa Kurniawati won in 2010.
“Becoming the world champion has always been my dream and now I have achieved that. It was not easy as I have had to sacrifice a lot. That’s why I’m really proud of this,” Lis told the Jakarta Globe on Sunday.
It wasn’t easy for her given that she was an acrophobic — afraid of heights — before she dared herself to jump off a cliff for the first time six years ago.
“I never thought that I would someday be an athlete, especially a paraglider. Height had been my worst fear,” the mother of three girls said. “I’d never thought that now I’d be roaming the sky and recognized in the world because of it.”
It all started, she said, in 2006 when her hometown of Kutai Barat, East Kalimantan, needed women paragliders for the East Kalimantan Games and offered to finance their attendance at training camps in Malang, East Java.
Her father, Daniar, a recreational paraglider, encouraged Lis to enlist for the camp, at least to conquer her acrophobia. “I was reluctant as I didn’t think I could conquer my fear. But my dad didn’t give up until finally I thought, ‘If my father can do that, why can’t I.’ So I decided to try it,” she said.
It took six tandem jumps with instructors in Malang before Lis could finally open her eyes during the flight.
“After safely landing on the ground I thought, ‘It’s OK.’ So I dared myself to open my eyes and did a solo flight,” Lis recalled.
Even if not all flights and landings were smooth — Lis once hung in a tree in Malang for two hours before rescuers arrived — the sport had captivated her. She went on to win the paragliding accuracy gold medal in the East Kalimantan Games.
Family support, especially from her father, encouraged her to continue paragliding and become a professional athlete.
“Lots of women paragliders who trained with me in Malang back then were leaving the sport because they weren’t supported by their families. I’m lucky to have my family behind me,” Lis said.
A year later, the National Sports Committee (KONI) opened a selection process for paragliders to represent Indonesia in the 2008 Asian Beach Games in Bali. Lis embraced the chance and made it to the national team.
She had a year of training at Puncak, West Java, and didn’t disappoint in the Games. Lis helped the women’s team win two gold medals in accuracy and distance events at Timbis Hill, Bali.
“I learned so much in Puncak, conquered my fear and believed I made the right decision to go pro,” Lis said.
After the Games she began to compete in more international events, including the Paragliding Accuracy World Cup series, and gained more experience.
“I’m aware that this is a risky sport. Once I hit power line in Turkey and caused a blackout in the whole city. Thank God I wasn’t electrocuted,” she said. “But that makes paragliding more fun. And every time you go up in the air, you can see the beauty of the world.”
Elisa Manueke, Indonesian men’s accuracy paraglider, praised Lis’s achievement. “She’s a great athlete who always does her best at all time,” said Elisa, who is ranked fourth in the world.
He said that Indonesia has lots of potential paragliders, especially women, but will need government support to help develop the sport in the country.
Djoko Bisowarno, head of paragliding department in the Indonesian Aero Sports Federation (FASI), voiced the same concern.
“We’ve been struggling hard to keep the sport going. If we have the government’s support, we believe we’ll have more world champions,” he said.
Lis Andriana from East Kalimantan became the women’s paragliding accuracy world champion last week. Antara Photo/Jafkhairi