November 1, 2021—Artistic Skydiving is the only discipline that incorporates all possible dimensional axes into freefall. Both disciplines—Freestyle Skydiving and Freeflying—have two compulsory rounds in which teams complete four specific sequences of defined moves. Judges award points based on presentation and execution of those moves. In the five other "free" rounds, the teams showcase their unique choreography, including the perspective of the videographer. Each team is given a difficulty score from one to ten, which is based on variety of moves, degree of difficulty and teamwork. Artistic Skydiving requires serious talent—the pool of competing teams is usually very small, so this year's competition was an inspiring one!

Freestyle Skydiving
Gold—XP Ascend
Silver—Horizon
Bronze—GoJump Cauliflyers

Freeflying
Gold—Polaris
Silver—Elevate
Bronze—Italian Glitter Pantz

Artistic Events U.S. Parachute Team
XP Ascend
Polaris

Over at the Sawtooth drop zone, it was a blend of old and new to begin the competition as Accuracy Landing and Wingsuit Flying were the first to finish up. Accuracy Landing—a game measured in centimeters—consists of ten rounds, during which competitors guide their canopies to a precise landing on an Automatic Measuring Device (AMD) with a dead-center target two centimeters in diameter. To pilot an accuracy canopy, the athlete must have a deep understanding of weather, shifting winds and the micro-climate norms of the area in which they're jumping.

It's a discipline that's been around for a long time, and it's dominated by skydivers who've been jumping longer than the competitors in several other disciplines have been alive, but the competition in Accuracy Landing is as fierce as in any other event. The event is scored both individually and by team, and requires patience, a keen eye and a fantastic feel for canopy input.

Individual Results
Gold—Ehab Mahmoud
Silver—Mark Jones
Bronze—Natalia Velidtchenko

Team Results
Gold—Precision Guided
Silver—Old Bones
Bronze—Skydive Rick's

Accuracy Landing U.S. Parachute Team
Ehab Mahmoud
Mark Jones
Natalia Velidtchenko
Jim Hayhurst
Keith Bergeron
Edit Alisa
Jimmy Drummond
Cheryl Stearns
Kris Hayhurst
Marty Jones

Finally, high above those accuracy tuffets were wingsuit pilots carving the Sawtooth skies. Wingsuit Flying competitors must stay up-to-date in a discipline that sees technological advances on a regular basis; achievements are being reached now that were thought impossible only a few years ago. In this competition, there were two wingsuit events—performance and acrobatics.

In Wingsuit Performance, the pilot receives a single score compiled from their performance in three tasks—time, distance and speed. Here, the competition is very close, and the gold and silver medalists were separated by only a fraction of a point.
Wingsuit Performance
Gold—Alexey Galda
Silver—Chris Geiler
Bronze—Joe Ridler

In Acrobatic Wingsuit Flying, teams score points based on "figures" shown in the air, as well as for camera work and flying style. Style points are given for body position, smoothness of flying, controlled docks and forward flying speed.
Gold—Flat Spin
Silver—Pteam Pterodactyl
Bronze—Flying Dirty

Wingsuit Flying U.S. Parachute Team
Flat Spin
Pteam Pterodactyl
Alexey Galda
Chris Geiler
Joe Ridler
Chris Poteete
Andy Kenny
Brandon Russell
Marcelo Zoni
Kristina Theroux

Mahmoud (gold), Jones (silver) and Velidtchenko (bronze) stand atop the Accuracy Landing podium.

Gold Medal Accuracy Landing team Precision Guided

Freestyle Skydiving Gold Medalists XP Ascend

Freeflying Gold Medalists Polaris

Wingsuit Performance Gold Medalist Alexey Galda

Galda, Geiler and Ridler stand atop the podium.

Members of the Wingsuit Flying U.S. Parachute Team celebrate on the podium with champagne.

October 31, 2021—

Open Class Gold Medalists AirspeedXP8

Advanced Class Gold Medalists Erratic XP8

Intermediate Class Gold Medalists Not Impact R8td

The podium does its best to support AZXPGK and the other 16-Way medalists.

 

After the 4-way teams completed their final run and turned their attention to the medal podium, the 8-way sequential, 16-way sequential and 10-way speed teams took their slots on the Twin Otters. All of these events feature teams of jumpers in a belly-to-earth orientation building geometric patterns in freefall. The 8- and 16-way events, much like 4-way, are scored by number of formations completed during freefall. The 10-way speed event, however, is judged by the amount of time it takes for all members of a team to complete the first star formation. Congratulations to our medalists!

8-Way Sequential
Open Class
Gold—AirspeedXP8
Silver—Golden Knights
Bronze—The Expendables

Advanced Class
Gold—Erratic8 XP
Silver—Misf8tes
Bronze—Avi8trixx

Intermediate Class
Gold—Not Impact R8td
Silver—Carolina Gr8ness ft. FL
Bronze—Fifty 50

16-Way Sequential
Gold—AZXPGK
Silver—Dallas Disturbance
Bronze—Prison Riot

10-Way Speed
Gold—AZXP10
Silver—Golden Knights
Bronze—Prison Break

10-Way Speed gold medalists AZXP10 stand atop the podium.

October 28, 2021—As 65 teams gathered on October 26 to compete in the most popular event at Nationals, 4-way formation skydiving dominated the skies of Skydive Arizona. 155 loads, 613 judged skydives, 3,065 slots, and 20 hours of daylight time is all it took to name the champions of 4-way in the beginner, intermediate, advanced, and open classes.

4-Way Open
Gold—Arizona Airspeed
Silver—SDC Rhythm
Bronze—Golden Knights Gold

4-Way Advanced
Gold—Lightspeed XP
Silver—SDC Rhevolution XP
Bronze—NE Chicken Bolts

4-Way Intermediate
Gold—Kaos Theory XP
Silver—Dallas Dynasty
Bronze—AF Atlas

4-Way Beginner Class
Gold—AF Zorro
Silver—Anion Flux
Bronze—AF Night Fury

Female 4-way team XPG4 won the gold medal as the highest placing all-female team and has qualified to represent the U.S. Parachute Team at the upcoming FAI World Championships, along with Open-class champions Arizona Airspeed.

8-way is nearing completion and 10-way and 16-way will kick off soon. Speed, Artistic Events, and Accuracy Landing are underway and will compete in the next couple days. Check back soon for the results of Wingsuit Performance, Wingsuit Acrobatic, and Canopy Formation!

4-Way Open Gold Medalist Arizona Airspeed

4-Way Advanced Gold Medalist Lightspeed

4-Way Intermediate Gold Medalist Kaos Theory XP

4-Way Beginner Class Gold Medalist AF Zorro

Female 4-way Gold Medalist XPG4

October 25, 2021—

Batsch, Bartholomew and Price stand on the Open Class podium.

Maples, Keiser and Sibeleski took home the medals in the Advanced Class.

2021 Canopy Piloting National Champion Nick Batsch

Parking spots were hard to come by at Skydive Arizona this morning. Sixty-five 4-Way Formation Skydiving teams across four classes—nine in open, 19 in advanced, 28 in intermediate and nine in beginner—made their first competition jumps this morning after 2-Way Mixed Formation Skydiving and 4-Way Vertical Formation Skydiving concluded yesterday.

In 2-Way MFS, competitors complete a dive flow that consists of points utilizing every body orientation during freefall—head-down, head-up and belly-to-earth. “Matching fall rates when your partner’s body orientation is different than yours is what makes MFS an especially challenging discipline,” says USPA Director of Competition Steve Hubbard. “Don’t even get me started on how hard those videographers work.” The MFS results are as follows:
Open Class
Gold—Fliteshop
Silver—Fulcrum
Bronze—AZ Sole Sisters
Advanced Class
Gold—New Kids on the Dock
Silver—Seeing Double
Bronze—Air Force Orion

The teams are larger in 4-Way VFS, but there was still plenty of overlap in competitors between MFS and VFS. In this event, competitors turn points with each team member in either a head-up or head-down position. The VFS results are as follows:
Open Class
Gold—Skydive Chicago Core
Silver—Arizona Anthem
Bronze—Skydive Midwest Chemtrails
Advanced Class
Gold—SDMW Shakedown
Silver—Elsinore Apple Core
Bronze—Why Not

Five full rounds and one partial round of 4-Way Formation Skydiving completed today, with incomplete results available on omniskore.com. While those athletes will be up early tomorrow to continue their competition jumps at Eloy, the second drop zone location in Sawtooth will begin hosting competition jumps as well, welcoming Wingsuiting and Canopy Formation Skydiving athletes tomorrow, and Artistic Events and Accuracy Landing athletes later in the week.

FliteShop

SDC Core

Open Class 2-Way MFS Champions Fliteshop

Advanced Class 2-Way MFS Champions New Kids on the Dock

Open Class 4-Way VFS Champions SDC Core

Advanced Class 4-Way VFS Champions SDMW Shakedown

October 23, 2021—

2022 U.S. Canopy Piloting Team

2022 U.S. Canopy Piloting Freestyle Team

 

The U.S. Parachute Teams for both Canopy Piloting and Canopy Piloting—Freestyle have been finalized. The competitors selected for each team will compete at Skydive Arizona in Eloy next October in the 9th FAI World Canopy Piloting Championships and the 3rd FAI World Canopy Piloting Freestyle Championships.

Both teams consist of eight competitors. In classic Canopy Piloting, the gold medalists in speed, zone accuracy and distance automatically locked in slots on the U.S. team. The other five slots were awarded based on overall standing. Your 2022 U.S. Canopy Piloting Team is:
Patrick Kessler— speed champion
Scott Harper— zone accuracy champion
Curt Bartholomew— distance champion
Nick Batsch— overall champion
Justin Price
Travis Mills
Ian Bobo
Jay Sanders

The eight slots on the Freestyle team were awarded based on overall standing. Your 2022 U.S. Canopy Piloting Freestyle Team is:
Curt Bartholomew— overall champion
Justin Price
Nick Batsch
Jay Sanders
Scott Harper
Jeannie Bartholomew
Travis Mills
Greg Windmiller

October 22, 2021— Canopy Piloting—Freestyle concluded three rounds of competition yesterday, October 21. The event, which is scored and judged separately from classic Canopy Piloting (speed, zone accuracy and distance), consists of three total runs, during which the competitors attempt a specific premeditated run. The judges grade the difficulty of that run ahead of time, then judge the jump itself for execution. Together, those numbers make up the run's score.

With only three runs, all of which count toward a final overall score, the stakes are high on every jump. "You’ve got to have a short memory," said Lauren Gawlik, who took the bronze medal in the Advanced Class. "Always let go of the last jump before you go up on the next one."

Open Class
Gold—Curt Bartholomew
Silver—Justin Price
Bronze—Nicholas Batsch

Advanced Class
Gold—Brendan Haddon
Silver—John Haley
Bronze—Lauren Gawlik

Mixed Formation Skydiving and Vertical Formation Skydiving began this morning. An update will be posted upon the events’ completion, and incomplete results are available now on omniskore.com.

Overall Champion Curt Bartholomew

Curt Bartholomew stands victorious atop the podium. Justin Price took silver, and Nick Batsch took bronze.

In the Advanced Class, Brendon Haddon won the gold medal. John Haley won silver, and Lauren Gawlik won bronze.

Open Class silver medalist Justin Price blows a kiss to the judges during one of his runs.

October 20, 2021—

Batsch, Bartholomew and Price stand on the Open Class podium.

Maples, Keiser and Sibeleski took home the medals in the Advanced Class.

2021 Canopy Piloting National Champion Nick Batsch

 

Last night, at sunset, the 2021 participants in the Canopy Piloting event gathered around the podium for the conclusion of nine rounds of competition. On top of that podium—the same one used in 1991, the first year Skydive Arizona hosted the USPA National Championships—stood Nicholas Batsch, the overall Open Class Canopy Piloting champion.

Skydive Arizona’s hard work building a world-class swoop pond was definitely appreciated by the athletes. “That’s why I came here. The pond,” said Lindsay Wheeler, who traveled from her home state of Hawaii to compete in the Advanced Class. “It helps that it’s the closest one to where I live." 

Open Class

Overall

Gold—Nicholas Batsch

Silver—Curt Bartholomew

Bronze—Justin Price

Speed

Gold—Patrick Kessler

Silver—Justin Price

Bronze—Ian Bobo

Zone Accuracy

Gold—Scott Harper

Silver—Nicholas Batsch

Bronze—Travis Mills

Distance

Gold—Curt Bartholomew

Silver—Nicholas Batsch

Bronze—Jay Sanders

Advanced Class

Overall

Gold—Logan Maples

Silver—Joseph Keiser

Bronze—Lee Sibeleski

Speed

Gold—Logan Maples

Silver—Aaron Schmidt

Bronze—Joseph Keiser

Zone Accuracy

Gold—Lee Sibeleski

Silver—Austin George

Bronze—Logan Maples

Distance

Gold—Logan Maples

Silver—Joseph Keiser

Bronze—Lee Sibeleski

 

October 20, 2021— Three intense rounds of Canopy Piloting—Distance wrapped up at midday Tuesday, with Curt Bartholomew edging out the competition to win the gold medal in the Open Class, and with it, the third slot on the U.S. Parachute Team. Nicholas Batsch took home his second silver medal of the event, while Jay Sanders won the bronze. In the Advanced Class, Logan Maples continued his strong performance by taking the gold medal, while Joseph Keiser and Lee Sibeleski won silver and bronze, respectively.

A full recap of the Canopy Piloting event will be available later today.

Advanced Class Distance Gold Medalist Logan Maples

Open Class Distance Bronze Medalist Jay Sanders

October 19, 2021— After taking advantage of a re-jump opportunity early Tuesday morning, Scott Harper claimed the Open Class gold medal in the zone accuracy rounds of the Canopy Piloting event, and with it, the second slot on the United States Parachute Team. He finished each of his three scored runs either with the top score or tied for the top score. Nicholas Batsch took home the silver medal, while Travis Mills finished third for bronze. In the Advanced Class, Lee Sibeleski significantly outpaced the field on his way to gold, while Austin George (silver) and Logan Maples (bronze) rounded out the podium.

The USPA National Championships will continue today with Canopy Piloting—Distance, the last of the three main Canopy Piloting events.

Competitors, judges and spectators beside the new swoop pond

October 18, 2021— Canopy Piloting—Zone Accuracy was suspended before completion today due to unfavorable wind conditions. Incomplete results are available on omniskore.com. Parachutist will post an update here upon completion of the event tomorrow.

October 17, 2021—

Canopy Pilot Allison Reay of Florida

Canopy Pilot Logan Hall of Georgia

 

Skydive Arizona’s hangar was quiet this morning. Competitors were instead gathered by the swoop pond, which is operating as manifest, loading area and landing zone for the canopy piloting events, which began today. The first round was a challenging one for the athletes, who had been practicing for days in uncooperative winds that had, at times, grounded them for extended periods. The early winds were, by contrast, negligible, but that didn't last long.

The strong headwind that blew in later in the morning grounded the competitors, but it didn’t intimidate them: "It's not about what the winds are doing, it's how you read the winds and improvise," said canopy pilot Greg Windmiller, who holds the FAI North American Continental Record in the event. "A good canopy pilot can read the conditions and adjust."

The athletes persevered through the challenging conditions, however, and finished the speed rounds of the competition. Patrick Kessler took the gold medal in the Open Class, and with it, the first slot on the 2022 United States Parachute Team. Justin Price won the silver medal, while Ian Bobo took bronze. In the Advanced Class, Logan Maples won the gold medal, with Aaron Schmidt and Joseph Keiser taking the silver and bronze, respectively.

The next rounds of the canopy piloting event will begin tomorrow morning, but that hasn't stopped other competitors from getting an early jump on their events. By midday in Eloy today, Formation Skydiving teams were lined up at manifest to get early practice jumps in for their coming competitions. It only gets more exciting from here.

October 16, 2021—For the past two days, sounds of canopies whizzing over the swoop pond filled the air over Skydive Arizona in Eloy, but the official practice period for canopy piloting came to a close tonight, October 16. As the sun set over the new pond, the competitors gathered for a briefing, getting a quick rundown from Meet Director Randy Connell, Chief Judge Marylou Laughlin and USPA Director of Competition Steve Hubbard. The loudest applauses came at the end, however, when drop zone president Shawn Hill and owner Larry Hill addressed the crowd, both as excited—if not more—than any canopy pilot there.

While logistical challenges aren’t strangers to the drop zone staff in Eloy, the Skydive Arizona crew and the meet staff have worked together harmoniously in preparation for a well-run and exciting meet—something many competitors have been starving for. “After two years of cancellations, delays and general uncertainty, it’s great to gather these competitors here for what looks to be a thrilling USPA National Championships,” said Hubbard.

CP competition will run through October 21, with CP-Freestyle beginning on October 19.

October 15, 2021—The USPA National Skydiving and Parachuting Championships, which determines the members of the U.S. Parachute Team who will represent the United States at international competitions, is taking place at Skydive Arizona in Eloy from October 15-31. Official competition kicks off with canopy piloting on Sunday, October 17! Stay tuned for updates!