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HEART-THUMPING ACTION: (above) Siblings Max and Sasha Christian will be thrilling the crowd with stunts on their wakeboards, while the Red Lions will freefall at 200kmh to a precise landing just 5m from spectators. -- PHOTO: A.B. RICHARD FOR THE STRAITS TIMES
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EXPECT spills that thrill.
In the air, on land and water, a slew of daredevil stunts are in store for the crowd of 27,000 and the millions more watching on television - just part of the adrenaline rush of this year's National Day Parade (NDP).
The Republic of Singapore Armed Forces' Black Knights will whizz overhead at 13km a minute, F3000 powerboats will roar across Marina Bay, and members of the Singapore Civil Defence Force's (SCDF) elite Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Dart) will make a flying-fox descent with fireworks strapped to their forearms and ankles.
In grand NDP tradition, the show starts in the sky. Already a crowd pleaser at rehearsals is a six-minute aerial ballet by the Black Knights.
Not to be outdone, the Red Lions have added a new twist to their routine. The 12 commandos will freefall at 200kmh for over 3,000m, and aim for a precision landing just 5m from spectators.
This year, they will land at the promenade, which at 160m by 20m, is much smaller than the floating platform. So that they do not end up in the seating gallery, or worse, in the water, Second Warrant Officer Tan Lee Khoon said: 'We must be very accurate in calculating our landing points.'
Still six recovery teams are on stand-by in case.
As the skies clear, members of the Home Team and the Singapore Armed Forces will roll in, hanging precariously from 15 motorbikes to form human pyramids. In one stunt, some bikes will bear the load of up to 10 riders.
Swooping in on a flying fox carrying a total of 800g of pyrotechnics each will be two officers from the SCDF's Dart - Staff Sergeant Loh Jin Wen, 25, and Warrant Officer Ismail Latiff, 30.
On the ground, 25 of their colleagues will set the ropes up for the routine, among other things.
The stunts continue out at sea, where there will be several firsts.
These include a 242-second-long Bay Show, featuring a group of four stunt kite fliers who will ride pillion on jet skis while making formations as three-tiered kites circle 9m overhead - choreographed by water sports enthusiast Laurence Wong, 36.
Kite fliers risk having the wind drag them into the water. If that happens, they will have to unleash themselves from harnesses holding them to the jet skis. It has taken two months of rehearsals but the routine, part of the pre-parade segment, is down pat, Mr Wong reports.
Also skimming the waves will be paragliders from the Naval Diving Unit, and wakeboarders, including the youngest athletes to ever represent Singapore in the sport.
Max Christian, 18, a Raffles Design Institute student, and his sister Sasha, 15, a Singapore Sports School student, will deliver coordinated backflips and twists, even executing a 360-degree turn mid-air.
The rush for the pair will be performing to their biggest crowd ever, said Max.
'We're going to...give it the best we've got.'
carolynq@sph.com.sg
jermync@sph.com.sg
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