Cheryl Stearns

Cheryl Stearns (born c. 1954) is an American skydiver. Stearns is noted for having won the Bronze Medal in Women's Overall Individual Style and Accuracy at the XXV World Parachuting Championships in Japan in 2000.Gold medal in overall women in 1978 and 1994. Stearns is also noted for the most total parachute jumps made by a woman— nearly 20,000 jumps as of May 2014--as well as the most parachute jumps made in a 24-hour period by a woman—352 jumps from November 8–9, 1995. More recently, Stearns had been involved in a project--StratoQuest--which endeavored to break Joseph Kittinger's long-standing record for the highest altitude parachute jump ever, with a jump from at least 110,000 feet. Stearns made her first jump in 1971 at the age of 17 and is currently a pilot for US Airways. In 1977 she became the first female member of the Golden Knights, the U.S. Army's elite parachute team. She served two 3-year tours with them.