Cyr Langevin. The Hero Of Mission 100

Directly in front of you if you walk into my house there is large photograph of the Canadian record set in 2006.

I’m going to have to replace that photograph. It’s no longer current. As of 20 minutes after 1 o’clock this afternoon, the record stands at 102, not 59.

And we’ve entered the Twilight Zone. The space time continuum has broken down, the whole planet must be about to shift into a new reality, because Cyr Langevin has become the Hero of Mission 100. There are a whole bunch of people reading this who’s jaws have just dropped, their minds are reeling, and they may even be suffering from shock. No there are not 2 Cyr Langevin’s. He’s a one of a kind.

He’s a short, kinda round, sorta’ scary lookin’ guy with tobacco stained teeth, “cutway” tattooed onto his right hand, “Reserve” tattooed onto his left, and a tattoo of the Grim Reaper across his chest. He’s a PFF Instructor and teaches the first jump course at Mile High Parachuting. He claims to be bilingual, but if he’s speaking English he has to repeat everything 3 or 4 time before anybody can understand him. I’ve been told that the same thing happens when he’s speaking French. And he’s got a heart of gold. He’d give a stranger the shirt off his back if he thought the guy needed it. He re-wired my house a couple of years ago because he was unemployed at the time and just wanted something to do that winter.

The first jump today came within 4 people of completing. 3 People didn’t quite make their grips, and Cyr went low. I looked across the formation to see him 20 feet underneath us, getting as flat and as big as he possibly could as he desperately tried to slow down and get back up to the formation. It was hopeless.He had to know that he was “That Guy”. I briefly wondered about the stream of unintelligible curses that had to be bouncing around inside of his helmet as he continued to sink.

There was a stunned silence in the debriefing tent when Martin announced that someone had come to him and asked to be replaced. I instantly knew that it had to be Cyr. Out of all the years I have been attending events like this I have never seen anybody voluntarily step down because they didn’t want to be the person that holds everybody else back from achieving the goal. He went from Zero, to Hero, in one step. He didn’t feel he was capable of flying his slot, and Martin didn’t have anywhere that he felt he could move him to.  He looks pretty rough around the edges, but in his own way, he’s a class act, and I tip my hat to him. I can’t imagine a better example of “Taking one for the team”.

On the next jump we went up and it was almost anticlimactic when we simply flew in, picked up grips, and set a new record. There was plenty of hooting and hollering in the landing areas, and shortly after we were down I saw some pictures taken with a telephoto lens that showed everybody on grips. After the Canadian record attempt that never was in Perris in the spring of 2011, Mission 100 at Parachute Montreal in the summer of 2011, we just went up, went out the doors, and did it. We “Got The Fuck In’, and got the job done.

At the debrief Martin announced that the judges had confirmed the results, and when the cheering and shouting had died down he announced that we were now going to go up and do 103 way, so that Cyr could join us, and be part of the record. When the dirt dive was over we headed for the planes with 100 voices chanting CYR! CYR! CYR! CYR! CYR!.

We didn’t complete the formation, but Cyr had the satisfaction of making his slot, and looking down at the people who were low, saying in his unmistakeable accent “Awwww! It sure fuckin’ sucks to be you!!!!!”

I can hear Buck, Trevor, Dan, Vic, Denise, and all the rest of the gang at our home drop zone laughing from here.

Over 2500 jumps, 20 seasons in the sport, more bizarre things than I could ever hope to remember, and the most surreal moment of the last 20 years was all those people chanting Cyr’s name.

Cyr Langevin. The hero of Mission 100.

I wrote the story of the completion of this event in my mind a thousand times. I have never been so wrong.

“I’ve learned to use the word impossible, with the greatest caution” Wernher von Braun