The Finnish swoopers at their Best

The Finnish elite of skydiving got together in Helsinki, at Hietaniemi beach. The event site was located only a stone throw away from the very centre of the capital of Finland. Nine parachutists were invited to take part into Red Bull Swoop, which was a distance competition. Sunshine and blue sky welcomed the competitors as well as thousands of spectators. It was time to write chapter number three in a history of Red Bull Swoop in Helsinki.

Wild swoops, splashing water and sun shine

The long waited sunshine and warm - almost windless weather strengthened brilliant circum-stances for the third Red Bull Swoop. The swooping course was built in waterfront located in north side of the Hietaniemi beach. Along 100-meter long swooping course there were 10 blades, in be-tween the parachutists were to fly. Beautiful summer day also woke spectators up from their hiberna-tion. During the event day even 10 000 spectators visited Hietaniemi beach enjoying great event and relaxing while DJ Orkidea was playing during Red Bull Swoop.

During the first round water was splashing when some of the skydivers took a little closer contact with the course - almost too close. Already during the first round Joonas "Kujo" Rautalin and Teemu Järvelä ensured their places into the final. They both broke 90 meters border. Teppo Heikkinen was the third 90-meter swooper and also he gained a place into the final.

First time in Finland 100 meters crossed

The skydivers who were in the final competited in their own meter numbers. They three were the only ones, who crossed 90 meters. The winner Joonas "Kujo" Rautalin was the doubtless master of the day. He was the one to cross 100 meters - and he did it twice! His final swoop was 106 meters long. That is the new record in a history of Red Bull swoop. Year 2002 his winning swoop was 69 me-ters.

The third place winner, Teppo Heikkinen (92,70 meters) commentated the competition with smiley face such as great combination of atmosphere, spectators, location and beautiful summer day. Parachuting club of Finland was responsible for organizing the competition. The chief of compe-tition, Marko Tiainen, was very satisfied with the Red Bull Swoop day. - Circumstances where as good as they good be for the event. As summer weather in Finland is not that stable, weather was quite a worry. Luckily the sun was co-operating with us today - what a beautiful day! It is also great to bring our sport close to spectators at the beach, close to city centre - this is were people get to know what skydiving and swooping are about. Tiainen was also pleased with the development of performances of the skydivers. Year by year the performance level has risen substantially.

Show round - line on water

This year there was a show round "line on water" in Red Bull Swoop. The idea was to draw on a water surface a line with one foot or two feet - longer the better. It was up to competitor from how far he started the line drawing. The only rule was to get back on a solid land. There were plenty of speed and splashing water involved. Sami Lehtinen's line resulted to victory in this category.

Red Bull Swoop 2004 Results

1. Joonas "Kujo" Rautalin (106,00 m)
2. Teemu Järvelä (98,70 m)
3. Teppo Heikkinen (92,70 m)
4. Nico Kiviniemi (85,70 m)
5. Osku "Ode" Siivonen (71,70 m)
6. Klas Ramsay (62,40 m)
7. Jaakko Kurikka (49,60 m)
8. Sami Lehtinen (10 m)
9. Lasse "Liimis" Lampu (-)