‘Air up my nostrils’: Skydiving pioneer takes final plunge to mark sport’s 60th SA anniversary

Artificial knees might make the landing a little rough but they couldn’t stop this South Aussie adrenalin junkie taking one more big plunge.

Graham Barrington, 81, doing his final jump mark 60 years since the formation of the South Australian Sports Parachute Club. Pictures: Shane Strudwick

His knees may be failing him and his health isn’t what it once was. But even at 81 years old, Graham Barrington was not going to miss out on his final jump to mark the 60th anniversary of skydiving in SA.

A founding member of the South Australian Sports Parachute Club, Mr Barrington was among a small cohort of skydivers to mark the historic milestone on Friday.

Dropping out of a plane at 15,000 feet, the self declared adrenaline junky couldn’t wait to “get some air up my nose”.

MIDDLE MAN: Graham Barrington, 81, falling solo with fellow club members Marcus Priem and Al Gray. Pictures: Shane Strudwick

“When you’re one of the first in SA to do it and the 60th anniversary is coming up, of course you have to jump, don’t you?” he said.

“But it’s probably going to be my last as I now have artificial knees, so I don’t think they are going to handle much more. I’m also getting a bit too old for this now.

“It’s always something that I’ve really enjoyed as, when you fall, any worries you have, they are just gone.

“It’s just pure enjoyment but it’s also a bit of an adrenaline thing.”

Mr Barrington said it was the call for adventure but also being “young and silly” that made him join the sport in 1961.

At the time, parachuting was still a fringe activity and something “never done before” in SA.

“I came home after a Saturday night and I picked up the Sunday Mail and I saw this ad from (founding father of SA skydiving) Ted Harrison wanting to organise a parachute club in SA,” Mr Barrington said.

Graham and Louise Barrington at Skysport, Strathalbyn. Supplied by Simon Jones

Louise Davis, Graham Barrington, Reg Eastaugh, Jeremy Browne and Steve Boldog get it together for the 1988 Grand Prix. Supplied by Simon Jones

South Australia’s first tandem team at Strathalbyn in June 1986. John Chapman, Tony Lenger, Mike Goodwin, Kym Williams and Graham Barrington. Supplied by Simon Jones

“So I called his number and got onto it … and since done about 2000 jumps.

“The issue was that in those days, to buy a parachute – they were classed as military munitions – you had to get a special permit to import them.

“So it took us nine months to get our parachutes so we just trained every weekend for almost a year. We must have been the most well trained skydivers you’ve ever seen.”

Mr Barrington said the sport quickly became a lifelong passion, one he shares with wife Louise, a fellow skydiver.

As for his most memorable jump, the Magill local said the clock had to be dialled back by 31 years.

“My most memorable one was on my 50th birthday when I did 50 jumps in a day,” he said.

“Now that was a day when we got a lot of air up our nostrils.” 

Originally published as ‘Air up my nostrils’: Skydiving pioneer takes final plunge to mark sport’s 60th SA anniversary