US Nationals 2000: The Big Picture, Part 1

For two weeks in October, the Perris Valley corridors filled with hundreds of competitors trying to leave their mark in the sky and on the scoreboards at the U.S. National Skydiving Championships 2000. For fourteen days, it was the tag-team efficiency of the Perris staff that overcame the stubborn weather patterns that threatened to wrestle the meet to the ground. In the end, there were many historic firsts to be proud of at this year’s competition. It was the first year freeflying was produced as an official event. It was the first year in recent memory there were no re-jumps. It was the first time in almost two decades that all National events were held together during a two-week period.

Even more unprecedented, Arizona Airspeed managed to sweep all four of the formation skydiving events. Airspeed Vertical took top honors in 4-way, and Airspeed 8 nudged by the Golden Knights in 8-way. Various combinations of PD Blue and PD Gold helped the Arizona boys also dominate the 10-way and 16-way events.

Rumor has it that Airspeed was going to take a few weeks off, and then decide if they would represent the United States in the three events at the World Meet next year in Spain, their concern being the demand it places on them. But if they choose to decline one or more events, the second place team will be offered the slot.

And despite their impressive results, don’t think the Airspeed boys easily dominated the whole RW week. There were many close bouts, and the final tally didn’t always look as clear as it appears after the fact.

In 4-way, which by the way also broke its own numbers with the most teams participating ever--32 Intermediate, 34 Advanced and 11 Open--for a grand total of 77, Perris France Maubeuge gave Airspeed Vertical a run for their money. Though guests who couldn’t officially medal, Maubeuge’s performance very much counted to everyone else competing. Everyone wanted to know how they ranked in the overall mix.

By the end of day one, Maubeuge was leading, with Airspeed Vertical and FX close on their heels. DeLand Norgies and DeLand PD Blue followed. But the picture shifted on Sunday, the day the meet put up the most loads, a record-breaking 230. Churning out six rounds, the pressure was definitely on.

Airspeed Vertical inched by Maubeuge on round 7. Then, they continued to keep their lead--and they won. Maubeuge came in second in points, but it was FX that officially took the silver. DeLand Norgies, also guest competitors, tied FX in points, however, it was the U.S. team DeLand PD Blue that went to the podium to claim the bronze.

In Advanced 4-way, Barry Jive’s Uptown 5 and Optic Nerve duked it out all the way to the end, when Barry Jive’s Uptown 5 slipped by Optic Nerve once again. But both were guests, so it was Teiwaz that took first place, proving to be strong, solid performers the whole meet through. (The name, Teiwaz, comes from a book on Norse runes in which a teiwaz is an arrow pointing upwards, meaning "skygod spiritual warrior.") The silver was hung around Nemesis, and DeLand PD Gold had a medal day, which raised their status up the ranks to bronze.

The Intermediate 4-way class unveiled the Best New Team on the scene. DeLand Tunnel Rage simply dominated. But it was also this category that held the first jump-off. Tying for second place were Focus 4 and Dallas 4-Quest. They both tied again on the jump-off, so another round took place. Focus 4 ended up eeking ahead of Dallas 4-Quest by only one point.

8-way unveiled 21 competing teams, 13 Intermediate and 9 Open. In a reverse scenario, John DeSantis, our diligent meet director, cranked through six of the rounds on Tuesday, knowing full well that problematic weather was following--which it did. But by Thursday, he was once again wrapping out the event in record time. The five Twin Otters helped.

Airspeed 8 and the Golden Knights were fighting neck-to-neck for that top slot, each taking the lead in each subsequent round. The big scoreboard by the creeping area held the rapt attention of many as scores posted. By round 9, the big boys were tied once again.

The crowd hovered around the big-screen TV for the 10th round. Airspeed proved to be smooth, fast and polished. They posted an impressive 23. The Knights’ turn came, and the audience audibly gasped as they watched as the team visibly hesitated before a few of their points. The Knights scored a 19. The hugs and congratulations went all around.

In the Intermediate 8-way class, Wendy’s Boyz, guests, held first throughout, but the N Gang did post higher marks in 4 of the 6 rounds than them and were the official gold medallists. One more jump-off took place: Two teams again, Perrisinore Sibling Rivalry and Willy & the Bone Lickas, were tied for the silver. Perrisinore won the round and the honor.

DeSantis immediately rolled over into 16-way, with team captains waiving the one-hour wait period. This would become one of the three consistently waived rules throughout the rest of the meet. The other two consisted of the one-hour wait between dives, especially for teams that were competing solely in one event, and somteams were allowed to complete all their rounds ahead of the rest.

But it was all twelve 16-way teams that were launched Thursday afternoon for two rounds. Then, the weather set in again.

By noon Saturday, the skies finally cleared, and the heat was on. One of the Golden Knights had problems in round 3 of 16-way and struggled with a loose reserve handle for a 40 precious seconds. They scored only 2 points, which set them back. Meanwhile, Airspeed Blue blew by the competition with a 14 in round 4.

DeSantis then switched over to 10-way to get them rolling. Roger Nelson’s team, Skydive Chicago STL10, blew out of the starting gate with a 12.18-seconds. But Airspeed Blue, once again, regained control. By the end of the day, with 4 rounds completed in both 10-way and 16-way, Airspeed were already looking like the clear victors.

Formation completed Sunday--just. DeSantis was getting ready to call the minimums, when the sun busted through, and he filled in the missing holes on the scoreboards in the 10-way and 16-way events.

Airspeed Blue came shy of one point on their final 16-way round of breaking the world record with 16 points. Knights FX garnered the silver, making a comeback, and Deguello, the mostly Texan team, who were momentary contenders for second, fell in their last 2 rounds and collected the bronze.

An interesting debate between Carl Daugherty’s 10-way team, the Power of Ten, and the judges took place. According to Tim Wagner of Omniskore, they were "busted by the judges on the last 4 rounds for using an illegal hand hold on the airplane." But Daugherty won his appeal, relinquishing only one round to the bust rule.

However, by this time, Airspeed swept that event as well, and the Nationals Formation Skydiving week, and no less than five gold medals were hung around their team members necks. The fifth, called the Overall Formation Skydiving Medal, which had been awarded to no more than two individuals in any one year in the past, decorated 11 of the Airspeed guys for their combined high scores in all cumulative events.

The standard was set that first week, both in front and behind-the-scenes. As Al Gramando, Eloy’s general manager said in regards to next year’s Nationals to be hosted by his drop zone, "Melanie is making my life difficult." All of the Conatsers should be commended on trying to accommodate any predicament, and the success of the first week was reflected back. It was indeed the biggest and best to date.