US Indoor Skydiving Newsletter Sept usindoorskydiving.com 1

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1 US Indoor Skydiving Newsletter Sept usindoorskydiving.com 1

2 Table of Contents From the Driver s Booth World Indoor Championships : French Proposal Rejected : Indoor IPC Working Group : 1st FAI Indoor World Cup, Austin : 1st FAI World Championships, Prague : 2nd FAI Indoor World Cup, Warsaw : 2nd FAI World Championships, Montreal : 1st FAI European Cup, Voss, & 3rd World Cup, Bahrain : 8-way Indoors? The Future: Olympics? USIS Q & A With Indoor Skydiving Athlete Reese Willson Tunnel Time The Flight Deck, Volume 1, Number 1, the official publication of US Indoor Skydiving, Inc., is published quarterly by US Indoor Skydiving. Back issues are available at no charge on request. U.S. Indoor Skydiving. All Rights Reserved. US Indoor Skydiving, by delegated authority from the National Aeronautic Association, is the official indoor skydiving representative of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in the United States (see page 5). ON THE COVER US Team member Kayleigh Wittenberg flies her Solo Freestyle routine during the US National Championships. 2 US Indoor Skydiving Newsletter Sept usindoorskydiving.com

3 From the Driver s Booth By Randy Connell, USIS Director of Operations Welcome to US Indoor Skydiving! A question I hear a lot lately is, What is US Indoor Skydiving? Since you can t believe everything you read on the Internet, let s look at the facts on both facets of this question. In early 2018 the National Aeronautic Association (NAA - the governing body for all air sports in the United States) recognized USIS as the sole Air Sport Organization for the sport of Indoor Skydiving (see next page). We were not the only organization to express interest. This sanction from NAA allows us to select and send the U.S. Team to international competition, among lesser authorities. These authorities are consistent with those of major sporting organizations. The vision for the future includes many different concepts. For instance: the creation of National Training Centers that draw from U.S. Olympic Committee programs; youth programming that introduces competition performance levels to young flyers; and a nationwide Cup Series, are just some of the active ideas in progress. Shortly, USIS will begin the process of seeking board members from across the community. Even after the board is in place, USIS is committed to always welcoming suggestions and ideas from anyone and everyone who brings them forward. This is ultimately, your sport. No one owns it. What it becomes lies in the hands of those who participate. We are here to serve our members to the betterment of the sport. During these early days, ifly Virginia Beach (a privately owned and operated facility) is helping to facilitate the process of getting USIS on its feet and operating. This is a starting point only, and full separation of the two organizations will occur at the earliest possible opportunity. This will not happen overnight, but it is in the best interests of both USIS and ifly Virginia Beach to aggressively seek the full separation. Since my own first tunnel flight in 1995, I have been amazed at how this sport has grown, changed, and evolved. I am excited for the future! A future that is developing in the creative imaginations of hundreds, if not thousands, of flyers right now! l USIS IS NOT... A profit-making entity. This is an important point for both legal and practical matters within the community. No individual or other organization will be enriched through the efforts of USIS. Concerned with the aspects of indoor skydiving which are based around simple amusement or recreation. Competitive sport is our arena. Concerned with matters of training tunnel instructors or flyers, beyond the improvement of our competitive athletes. Affiliated with ifly Corporate in any capacity that is not also available to all US tunnels including non ifly-branded locations. USIS IS... A not-for-profit organization incorporated in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and our 501c(3) application is in process. A national governing body in the same mold as the U.S. Parachute Association, the Academy of Model Aeronautics, USA Swimming, and many others. Just getting started. Seeking input from the community at large. Interested in growing and strengthening the sport as a whole. US Indoor Skydiving Newsletter Sept usindoorskydiving.com 3

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5 World Indoor Championships By Gillian Rayner How did World Cups and World Championships in INDOOR skydiving become accepted by the International Parachute Commission (IPC) and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI). After all, what do wind tunnels have to do with the World Airsports Federation? Gillian Rayner, recently elected IPC President and a supporter of Indoor Skydiving, describes the last decade of history, bringing indoor within the IPC fold Although tunnels were being used more and more as a training tool for FS and Artistic Teams, the idea of Indoor Skydiving as a sport discipline was not really considered since it did not involve falling out of an aircraft or parachuting. 2012: French Proposal Rejected The wind tunnel in Paris, Aérokart, which opened in 2002 and was managed by Françoise Simons, member of the French Female FS team, started holding international competitions very early on. Although the French Parachute Federation recognised these competitions, it was only ten years ago, in 2008 that the first French Indoor Nationals were held and then only in FS. France was keen to have Indoor Skydiving recognised and, as the then French delegate, I put a proposal to the IPC in The initial proposal was very detailed and proposed a change not only to the IPC rules but also to the FAI statutes and Sporting Code General Section. This proposal broke down the International Parachute Commission responsibility into two distinct Lesley Gale 4-way Dynamic Competition at Gravity Wind Tunnel exciting but is it acceptable as indoor skydiving? US Indoor Skydiving Newsletter Sept usindoorskydiving.com 5

6 categories: Open Canopy Events and Freefall Events the latter being broken down again into Indoor and Outdoor. That was undoubtedly a step too far, because even now, the detailed proposal has not been accepted. It will be submitted again by France in 2019 but in a slightly different version. At that IPC meeting which was held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2012, the rejection of the idea was resounding with the American delegate taking a very vocal position against. In fact, there was very little support at all. in In fact, the Singapore tunnel did host a major competition in December 2012, just after the Mondial in Dubai, using IPC judges but it was not recognized by IPC. The idea was making its way and Axel contributed to the Temporary Working Group and encouraged ifly Austin, where he was working at the time, to put together a bid to submit to the IPC Plenary in 2014 when, hopefully, Indoor Skydiving would be accepted. Politics got in the way of this bid that had to be on the agenda to be considered by the Plenary. Although IPC Plenary meeting 2013: Indoor IPC Working Group Not to be beaten, France prepared a watered-down proposal for the following year. Rather than modify the whole structure of the IPC, the idea was to include Indoor activities in the Formation Skydiving and Artistic disciplines. Consequently, in 2013 in Banja Luka, BH, I presented the new proposal to the delegates. Opposition was not quite so strong although certain countries, USA in particular, were still openly against the idea. Rather than reject the concept completely, the delegates supported the idea of a Temporary Working Group being responsible to come up with a full proposal, suggested rule changes and structure. After the initial proposal was submitted in 2012, Axel Zohmann of ifly contacted me directly because ifly was keen to see Indoor accepted as a part of the competition structure and were ready to host a competition as soon as possible. Initially ifly Singapore was the suggested location and was ready to host a competition Indoor Skydiving was not yet an IPC discipline, the bid was put forward but without the support of USPA, representing skydiving in the USA. The USPA did, however, agree not to prevent the bid from going forwards and even went to far as to wish the organizer well. 2014: 1st FAI Indoor World Cup, Austin The 2014 IPC meeting was exciting and strong opinions were expressed for and against Indoor activities being recognized by IPC. The wind had changed though, even during the course of the three days prior to the Plenary meeting. I presented the results of the Working Group and the rule change proposals. After an impassioned intervention by Hans Christian Amlie from Norway, which I believe swayed many of the hesitant opponents, Indoor Skydiving was officially adopted by the IPC as was the bid to host the 1st FAI Indoor Skydiving World Cup at the ifly wind tunnel in Austin, Texas. 6 US Indoor Skydiving Newsletter Sept usindoorskydiving.com

7 Lise Hernandez Girouard The fact that the bid had been accepted did not prevent there still being problems, as the USPA did not recognize indoor skydiving (and still does not to this day), the National Aeronautic Association (NAA), stepped up to the challenge and signed all the necessary paperwork including the Organizer Agreement with the FAI in the place of USPA. USPA did not recognize indoor skydiving (and still does not to this day). 2015: 1 st FAI World Championships, Prague When a new discipline is accepted into IPC, it is customary to hold two World Cups before holding a World Championship. Things were done a little differently for Indoor. It was quickly realised that it would be impossible to hold World Championships in Indoor and Outdoor in the same year because teams would not be able to afford to attend both. To hold two World The competition was well managed by ifly Austin and was successful although the turnout was relatively small. There were five 4-way FS teams, two Female 4-way, three VFS teams, four Freefly teams and seven Freestyle competitors. Junior teams (flyers aged from 12 to 17) were admitted for the first time with the French Aerokart team, who had been in training for more than a year, winning the event although not enough junior teams were present for there to be an official ranking. This is a very significant step for IPC as under-16s cannot skydive, and under-18s require parental permission so this is the first time IPC has held official competitions for minors. It should be noted that for the first time also, music was used during a performance. Although not in the rules, Lise Hernandez Girouard asked to be able to use music to help her performance and this opened the way to how Solo Freestyle and Dynamic is performed today, music being an important part of the overall routines. Vania Da Rui First Indoor 4-way World Champions, Hayabusa, for Belgium, at Prague 2015 US Indoor Skydiving Newsletter Sept usindoorskydiving.com 7

8 Cups successively would have meant that the 1st World Championship would be in 2016, a World Championship (and Mondial) year. A bid to host the 2nd World Cup was received from Hurricane Factory in Prague, this was accepted on the condition that it became a World Championship. Consequently, the 1st FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championships was held in Prague in Attendance was much increased in comparison to 2014, perhaps because it was held in Europe, and it was the start of something that has not stopped growing since. The first FAI World Championships in 2015 was the start of something that has not stopped growing since. This competition was well attended with sixteen FS 4-way Open teams, nine Female FS 4-way, ten VFS, sixteen 2-way Dynamic teams, seven 4-way Dynamic teams, ten Freestyle competitors and six juniors Freestylists. 2016: 2nd FAI Indoor World Cup, Warsaw A 2nd FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving was held in Flyspot, Warsaw Poland, with the highest attendance yet, of thirty-nine FS 4-way Teams (Open, Ladies & Junior), nine VFS teams, twenty-two Solo Freestyle (inc juniors), and twenty-four 2-way Dynamic teams. This was the first time in three FAI competitions that there were sufficient junior 4-way teams to run a world competition. 2017: 2 nd FAI World Championships, Montreal This saw the second FAI World Championships in Indoor skydiving, held at Laval, Montreal, Canada, with fourteen teams competing in 4-Way Open, nine in Female 4-Way, four Junior and six VFS plus the Artistic Events - six 4-Way Dynamic, 22 teams in 2-Way Dynamic, eleven Solo Freestyle athletes and eight Solo Freestyle Junior. 2018: 1st FAI European Cup, Voss, & 3rd World Cup, Bahrain This year, the 1st FAI European Indoor Skydiving 4-way Junior Podium, 2nd FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving, Warsaw, Poland, US Indoor Skydiving Newsletter Sept usindoorskydiving.com

9 Championships were held in Voss, Norway. Attendance was good. The next IPC world event is the 3rd FAI World Cup, to be held at Gravity, Bahrain, October Cash prizes will be offered, for the first time in an IPC First Class Event, with a total cash purse of $200,000 US. It is hoped more athletes than ever before will compete. Disciplines include 4-way FS, 4-way VFS, 4-way Dynamic, 2-way Dynamic and Freestyle (solo event). All have a junior category for those aged 12-17, and the 4-way FS has a Female category. Registration is now open soon at WCIS website, and WCIS Event Bulletin 1 has information about how to register. Teams need approval from their National Governing Body or Aero Club. Four teams are permitted per country per discipline, which should be ample to allow everyone who wishes to compete to be able to take part. 2019: 8-way Indoors? The 3rd FAI World Championships in Indoor Skydiving will be held at Weembi wind tunnel, Lille, France, April. Because it is a 16 foot diameter tunnel, it would be possible to hold an 8-way event. This proposal was not adopted by the Plenary this year but will be put to the floor again in 2019 just prior to the competition. The reason behind the non support of 8-way competitions is the fact that if this was adopted, it would limit the number of tunnels that could bid to host a competition. But things are not static and one can hope that this might change in the future. Note, if IPC did decide to adopt Indoor 8-way FS as a discipline at the World Indoor Championships in 2019, the 8-way event would be run as a World Cup, as is customary the first time of trialling a new area. The Future: Olympics? France, still being a leader with regard to Indoor Skydiving, is no w working on a project to have this discipline included in the 2024 Paris Olympics. The road is long and there will be hurdles but we will follow that route with the full support of IPC and the FAI. Even if not successful, this will give maximum visibility to the discipline and to skydiving in general. Article originally published at skydivemag.com, and included here with permission. l Mohammed Fakhruddin Gravity, Bahrain, location of the 3rd FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving US Indoor Skydiving Newsletter Sept usindoorskydiving.com 9

10 USIS Q & A With Indoor Skydiving Athlete Reese Willson Representing the USA, Reese Willson finished 4th in the 2017 FAI World Championship Freestyle Open, missing out on a medal by just half a point. After taking second place at the 2018 US Nationals Freestyle Open, Willson looks to once again compete for a world title. What first sparked your interest in indoor skydiving? I had a skydiving friend move back to Utah, and he wanted me to fly in the ifly Utah tunnel. It actually sounded dumb to me, which is ironic. It sounded like fake skydiving. I eventually went and thought it was the coolest thing ever, and the rest is kind of history. You placed 4th in open freestyle at the 2017 FAI World Championship last year. What was it like competing at a World Class event, and coming close to medaling? It s rewarding just to see other flyers. It s always good to have that opportunity to see what else is going on in the world of flying. I was a little bummed that I didn t medal, but there s always this year, and I m Reese Willson 10 US Indoor Skydiving Newsletter Sept usindoorskydiving.com

11 definitely going to go for it as always. How are you preparing yourself for the 2018 FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving? Right now I m doing my regular thing. I m working at my tunnel in Utah, I m coaching a lot, and trying to fly as much as I can. I m also a father now, so I m doing the dad thing and finding time can be challenging. Do you have a personal goal for the 2018 WCIS? I just want to play off what I did at nationals. I went into nationals trying to do a few new things and I didn t quite get my routine as put together as I would have liked. Hopefully, I can button things down a little bit more for worlds. Are you impressed with the youth competitors in the US? 19 junior skydivers participated in the 2017 National championship and several of them placed and held their own against the adults. Yeah absolutely, it s definitely cool to see them flying at the level their flying at. They get better every year, there s more of them every year and pretty soon they re going to take over, it s only a matter of time. I ve been in contact with a few of them, and because of that I ve been able to help them on their journey, and hopefully I ve been able to pass along some of the stuff that I ve figured out. They figure things out in about a tenth of the time it took me. Who s your favorite competitor to watch aside from yourself and why? That s a tough one. At Nationals it was fun to watch Austen (Crandall) fly. He s been pushing it hard and it shows, he s made big improvements since last year. Blake Cullen was also cool to watch fly; I had never seen him before. A big reason why I go to these events is to see other people fly because I don t really get to see what s going on outside of my bubble here in Utah. On the world level its fun to see Leo Volkov (gold medal winner, 2017 FAI WISC Freestyle Open) do his thing, he s a character. Tell us the origins of your signature move the Ironside. How did you come up with it and why is it named that? Ray (Kubiak, lead flight instructor at ifly VA Beach) named it and I dug it. It s a result of me trying to learn how to side-fly. Once things get easy you have to make them hard again, and once I got good at side-flying I realized one of the ways to make it harder would be to not use my arms. Now I m known for it because at the first worlds I zipped my arms up in my suit and flew a whole round like that. How big is the support you get from your family and friends to go out and compete? It s awesome, my wife is probably my biggest supporter. She works a full-time job, and she s still able to help me get out to these events. She helps me book plane tickets and hotels because that s definitely something I m not awesome at. I have to give her kudos more than anybody, but my mom and dad have always been supportive as well. I was spending a lot of money flying in the wind tunnel before I became an instructor and I asked my dad if I should put that money somewhere else and he told me no, not if you re having fun, keep doing it. I ve always received encouragement from everyone around me, including the great staff at our tunnel. They ve always been supportive and allowed me to take the time off to go and compete. What s your favorite thing about indoor skydiving? The unlimited freedom and space. It s a totally blank canvas, that s why freestyle appeals to me because it s not really defined in a lot of ways. There are no obstacles in the wind tunnel other than the door so you can do pretty much whatever you want, wherever you want. You fly to your own ability, and it s pretty cool in that way. l US Indoor Skydiving Newsletter Sept usindoorskydiving.com 11

12 Tunnel Time Robert Pizzini, USIS Executive Director When I attended the October 2017 FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championship (WISC) in Montreal, I was excited to see my first world championship in the new sport of indoor skydiving. I know the owners of the Montreal facility and looked forward to seeing everyone again, but at the end of the event I thought the U.S. team could have done better. Although we had first class flyers and their supporters at the WISC, teams such as France and Poland seem unified and professional right down to their flight suits, team organization, and medal count. The U.S. team was not as well organized as it is in parachuting, ski and snow board, track and field, and all other international sports that carry the shield of the U.S. In the eight events at the 2017 WISC, the U.S. was unable to win gold, taking home just two silvers and a bronze. While I was proud of our entire team and our ability to take home those medals, I thought the U.S. team could do so much more through a formal national governing body like other sports, many of which culminate in selection to the U.S. Olympic Team. After detailed discussions We need organization to grow and evolve the sport, and to win gold on the world stage. with the United States Parachute Association (USPA), the National Aeronautic Association (NAA), and the International Bodyflight Association (IBA), and upon close examination of similar organizations such as U.S. Ski and Snowboard, U.S. Figure Skating, USA Track and Field, and USA Hockey, I created U.S. Indoor Skydiving (USIS), which was immediately recognized and designated by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA) as the national governing body for the sport of indoor skydiving on behalf of the U.S. I was reluctant to take this on as I knew the time and initial cost were both items that would be tough to dedicate, but the sport of indoor skydiving like all other sports is not owned by any individual or organization and we need organization to grow and evolve the sport, and to win gold on the world stage. At ifly Va. Beach, we had the good fortune to host the past two U.S. Indoor Skydiving National Championships, with Paraclete XP hosting the FS component this year and in Hosting the national events allowed us to meet with athletes from all over the country and the world and 12 US Indoor Skydiving Newsletter Sept usindoorskydiving.com

13 We must expand and en hance youth involvement in indoor skydiving. shed light of the potential for this sport to grow nationally and internationally. The interactions that we experienced and witnessed with people from all over the world convinced me that this sport has tremendous growth potential, particularly in the junior category and in our youth programs overall. Those experiences were influential in my decision to take on the USIS project. The primary goal of USIS is to select the U.S. team and provide the them with the assistance and organization they need to win gold at international events such as the FAI World Championship, and World Cup. USIS will also grow the sport through programs, youth other events, and by establishing standards for competition venues and national training centers as many other sports do in cooperation with the U.S. Olympic Committee. These training centers would include a robust judges academy as judging must evolve quickly and on par with FAI standards. There is a lot of value in having a National Governing Body that s truly focused on improving the sport and treating it professionally. It s been just about four months since USIS was formed and like any new organization, we are learning as we go. A bright spot for USIS came in the form of current USIS Director of Operations, Randy Connell. With over 20 years of experience in skydiving competition, judging and event management, Connell is a perfect fit to be our first Director of Operations. I also firmly believe that we must expand and enhance youth involvement in indoor skydiving. At the 2018 U.S. Nationals held in Va. Beach there were 19 Your membership, sponsorship, partnership, and dona tions are one-hundred percent necessary to sustain and grow the sport. junior flyers (under 17 years old) who competed, almost double the previous year, and they were more than capable of keeping up with older Children athletes. represent the future of this great sport. With the 2018 FAI World Cup of Indoor Skydiving approaching fast USIS is busier now more than ever. Your membership, sponsorship, partnership, and donations are one-hundred percent necessary to sustain and grow the sport, and we welcome any and all suggestions and recommendations you may have. US Indoor Skydiving Newsletter Sept usindoorskydiving.com 13