posted Jan 22nd, 2005 - The NSL News series of the 2005 U.S. top contenders in 4-way concludes for now with the story of Team Fastrax. The group of teams that will most likely compete for the top ranks of the 2005 season and were covered by the NSL News includes DeLand Majik, DeLand Fire, the Golden Knights, two Arizona Airspeed line-ups and Fastrax.

The NSL News was invited by the team from Indiana to attend a training day of the Fastrax winter camp last week in Lake Wales. NSL News reporter Kurt Gaebel was already on the way from DeLand and past Orlando when Fastrax founder, member and sponsor, John Hart, called and said that the team had given up on the weather. Fastrax was breaking up the camp in Lake Wales a little bit earlier than planned and moved to SkyVenture Orlando for the remainder of the day. That's where the NSL News had the opportunity to meet with the team.

Fastrax had not made any reservations at SkyVenture that day. The team's training plan for 2005 is different compared to the first two years. Training from jump planes and tunnel training are now strictly separated and do not happen both on the same day. In fact, the Fastrax plan has skydiving only on week days and tunnel training on weekends. However, there are exceptions, and the bad weather in Florida that day gave enough reason to see if there was some tunnel time available at SkyVenture Orlando. There wasn't, and the NSL News had plenty of time to collect Fastrax information.

Team Fastrax continues in 2005 with the same line-up as in 2004: John Hart (Tail), Niklas Hemlin (Center Outside), Eric Gin (Center Inside), Billy Andrews (Point), John Judy (Video). John Hart founded the team in 2002 and put his heart, soul and resources into the future of Fastrax. In fact, the team has become a crucial part of his business, Selection.com, that he launched in 1986. Selection.com provides "pre-employment background checks tailored to the customer's needs".

John Hart is 43 years old and began skydiving with AFF in 2000. His wife Susanne and three sons (16 - 11 - 9 years) have supported his passion. His brother, David Hart, had already been around as a very experienced skydiver for a long time before John picked up the same hobby. David began skydiving in the mid-80's. With the two brothers sharing the same passion it did not take very long for John to catch up. He has now a total of approx. 2,000 jumps in his log book.

John Hart met Shannon Pilcher at a tunnel training camp in 2001 and became even more addicted. The idea of forming a 4-way team with his brother materialized quickly. Hart's business experience and resources helped to make the forming process quicker than usual and more efficient. In fact, Hart planned already very early to be competitive with the new team and incorporate it into the business structure. The team name "Fastrax" is no coincidence. It is the name of the operating program for Selection.com. Team Fastrax also includes a tandem and demo team that takes care of business commitments, while the 4-way line-up only trains and competes.

David Hart, who is not a member of the competition team any longer, is very much involved in the business part of Team Fastrax. He consults companies and customers of Selection.com and uses competitive team jumping and other skydiving experiences as tools for his seminars, including corporate team building, selection of personnel and leadership education. David Hart's tandem and demo team is supported by Mike Canary, Jay Stokes, Gene Newsome, Bob Akers and also Fastrax videographer John Judy.

John Hart decided very early to use professional coaching to enhance his own and the team's career. He hired Niklas Hemlin as a player coach in October 2002. PD Blue member Shannon Pilcher was too busy and not available for coaching when Hart asked him. However, Pilcher recommended his PD Blue team mate Niklas Hemlin for the job. Hemlin fit well to the aggressive dynamics of the team, the deal was done.

Niklas Hemlin is 27 years old and has been skydiving for 11 years with a total of approx. 6,600 jumps in his log book. He has a 21-month old son Torsten. Hemlin was born and grew up in Sweden. He was a member of the Swedish natioal 4-way teams between 1996 and 1999 before he moved to the U.S.A. He became the alternate for Team FX in 2000 and switched to PD Blue in 2001. He spent the 2002 season as a player coach for the MidAtlantic Skydiving League team Jetstream before Fastrax hired him at the end of the year.

Brother David Hart and Bob Akers completed the original 2002 line-up, Kip Lohmiller was the team videographer. Fastrax with this line-up began the training at the end of 2002 and continued with the same line-up in 2003. The FSL Shamrock Showdown 2003 was the very first competition for John Hart and this Fastrax line-up. The team competed in the AA Class in DeLand and finished with a 7.0 meet average.

The FSL Shamrock Showdown 2003 was the only meet where Fastrax competed in the AA Class. The team moved up into the AAA Class for the three meets Fastrax attended in the Indiana Skydiving League 2003 season (10.0 - 12.0 - 10.5 meet averages). The Fastrax 2003 season concluded with a 13.2 average and a 7th place in the Advanced Class competition of the USPA Championship in Lake Wales.

Hart says that the team did okay in 2003. Fastrax had USPA Advanced Class medals in mind, however, the progression of the 2003 season was good enough to keep up the motivation. It was clear that Hart and Team Fastrax wanted to continue in 2004, and the plan was to increase the efforts dramatically. Bob Akers and David Hart were not able to make the time commitment that was necessary to accommodate the 2004 plan. John Hart and Niklas Hemlin had to look for two new players.

Hart and Hemlin had already re-activated peak performance coach "Dr. John" deRosalia who had moved away from skydiving team consulting after his last busy engagement with the British national team XL. DeRosalia, Hart and Hemlin used a special profile evaluation form for the team selection and looked at several candidates. The choice was made at the end of 2003, Billy Andrews and Eric Gin were invited to join the Fastrax line-up. John Judy was hired as the team videographer for 2004, and "Dr. John" promised to continue working with the team.

Billy Andrews has been in the sport for seven years and has a total of approx. 3,000 jumps. He is 31 years old. Andrews moved to Florida in 2000 since he wanted to train and compete as much as possible. He was looking for a team and joined "Shaft" in 2001, then formed "Superfly" for the 2002 and 2003 season. Superfly did not continue, and the Fastrax offer came at the right time for Andrews, who quickly relocated once again to accommodate this skydiving plans. He now lives and works in Indiana, the home state of Team Fastrax.

Eric Gin became the veteran of the current line-up when he joined Fastrax for the 2004 season. He is 36 years old and has been in the sport for 12 years with a total of approx. 9,400 jumps. He tried out for FX's farm team in 1998 and joined the west coast team Cruis-O-matic in 1999. Gin has been training and competing with the 8-way team Vengeance between 2002 and 2004. Vengeance won the 8-way bronze medals at the USPA Championship 2004. He was also a player coach for the Perris Mud Hens, while he trained and competed with Team Fastrax in 2004.

Fastrax videographer John Judy is 35 years old and has logged over 5,000 jumps in his 20-year skydiving career. He has filmed several different teams for three years at West Point in Virginia and for two years at the Ranch. Judy was looking for a team with a serious commitment when he met with John Hart who made his plans for the 2004 season.

The 2004 season turned out to become most successful for the new Fastrax line-up. The team completed a total of approx. 950 training jumps and spent 35 hours in the wind tunnel. Fastrax 2004 trained only on week days. The weekends were reserved for family affairs and competitions. Fastrax competed at three meets of the Indiana Skydiving League 2004 (14.0 - 16.5 - 17.0) and posted scores of a significantly higher performance level than in 2003. The efforts of the second Fastrax year were rewarded with the bronze medals of the Open Class competition at the USPA Championship 2004, where Fastrax finished with a 17.1 average after ten rounds.

The 2004 success made it easy for the same line-up to commit for the next season. Fastrax 2005 has even bigger plans compared to the 2004 agenda. The team leaves no doubt that the gold medals at the major events of the 2005 season are the main goal. Fastrax has chosen the Florida Skydiving Center in Lake Wales as the location for the winter training camps. The team will run one camp per month between January and April, training only on the week days. The plan is to complete 150 jumps per camp for a total of 600 jumps in April.

This is the point where experienced teams and competitors raise their eye brows. No calculator is necessary to see that this plan is based on an average of 30 jumps per day. Many teams are completing more jumps per days these days by using two sets of equipment, packers and back-to-back loads. It is not unusual that average jump numbers per day have gone up to 10 to 15 for highly competitive teams, sometimes to 20 and more. However, an average number of 30 seems to be on a very high end, and the NSL News was interested to learn about the administration of such an intense agenda.

Fact is that Fastrax had already completed the total number of 37 jumps on one day the same week of the NSL News visit to meet Fastrax at SkyVenture Orlando. The total number of training jumps that January week of four training days was 120. How does it work practically?

John Hart explains that the team has special arrangements with the drop zones where they train, Lake Wales in the winter and Greensburg, Indiana, in the summer. Fastrax leases the jump plane and uses it according to the team's needs. The drop zones also allow the team to set up its own facilities. The Fastrax headquarters (gear, packing, food), separate landing and boarding area are located right next to each other. The team members do not even have to run or jump from a lower altitude to make the back-to-back load. They land at the packing area, pick up new gear, and the plane picks them up where they are.

This requires great cooperation with the hosting drop zones and coordination of the action. John Hart's business experiences help to make it happen. The training jumps run in six-pack cycles. The team repeats this cycle four to five times per day, result is the jump number of 30. It is still a physically and mentally challenging plan of action. Fastrax is aware of the importance to be in good physical shape for this tough regiment. Diet, nutrition and physical exercising has high priority for the Fastrax members.

John Hart gives more insights: "We drink a lot of water during the training day and check our body weight on a very regular basis. This indicates if we are still on high enough energy level. Dr. Cassell, our sport nutritionist, has also laid out a plan for our specific diet. Food and diet control are very important, especially close to and during the actual training camps. This includes the reduction of caffeine consumption to an absolute minimum."

Sport nutritionist Dr. Cassell was added to the support staff in 2003 and made a difference for the team. The physical exercising plan is mostly for the time between the training camps and includes bicycling, running, work-out and yoga for flexibility and injury prevention.

The training day usually begins at 4:30 a.m. at the drop zone. The first take-off is scheduled before sunset and around 5:15 a.m. The first rays of sunshine provide enough light for the video. The daily work is done at a reasonable time, and the team members want to spend more time this year to be available for other teams with coaching and advice. Fastax will offer other teams to join their training camps for reduced jump rates and coaching when time allows.

The 2005 taining plan will be similar to last year's where the weekends were reserved for the families. However, Fastrax will not combine skydiving and tunnel training any longer. The team has plans for two separate tunnel camps at SkyVenture Orlando in February and March with 10 and 11 hours of flying time.

The Fastrax winter training concludes in April. The first camp on home turf in Greensburg, Indiana, is scheduled for the end of April. This camp is the beginning of the phase where the team will train every week for two or three days, for a total of 50 jumps per week. This will add the remaining 600 jumps to the team's log book for a total of 1,200 jumps this year. A skills camp for the Indiana Skydiving League teams and competitors at the end of April will help launching the 2005 season in the team's home area.

The impressive Fastrax 2005 agenda requires serious resources. The team plans are obviously embedded in the business structure of the main sponsor, John Hart's Selection.com. However, additional support helps the team to make it through the ambitious season. Asics, Gatorade, SkyVenture, Tony Suits, Performance Designs, Alti-2 and Sky Systems are on the list of supporters of Team Fastrax. John Hart mentions that he is also discussing more corporate sponsorships with other companies.

NSL News reporter Kurt Gaebel asked the team members where they see the major differences between the Fastrax plans and the traditional way of 4-way training. Answers came from all members. Niklas Hemlin: "We train like the ancient greeks - hard and pure." John Hart: "We train differently compared to the traditional schools by using other resources in a more scientific way. We try to think outside the box and be as efficient as possible." Billy Andrews: "Yeah, imagine that we built a mockup at a heated pool for exit training in winter times."

Gaebel also asked why the winter camps are so much more intense compared to the summer camps, and how the tough winter regiment could be so efficient at all. Coach Niklas Hemlin had the answers for the team: "We surely are aware of the fact that the 2- or 3-day camps in the summer are more efficient than the 5-day winter camps. However, we learn a lot how to focus and use our will strength when it is getting tough toward the end of a 5-day camp. The purposes are a little bit different. We are also physically very well prepared to endure a 5-day camp with 150 jumps."

John Hart added: "There is also no evidence that these camps cannot be efficient. It really depends on the team and the preparation. These 5-day camps are like our boot camps, and we know that there is an accepted decline of the performance level at the end of the camp. Finally, we are not only chasing jump numbers, we make adjustments if necessary. We have stopped or interrupted jumping when a team member feels like running out of steam or wants a break."

Last not least, Fastrax knows the importance of competition practice. The training agenda of at least 30 jumps per day with hardly any breaks is so completely different compared to a meet scenario that it makes meet practice become even more crucial. Fastrax will open the team's 2005 competition season with the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2005 on March 19 - 20. It will be a first serious test for most of the top teams, including the Golden Knights, DeLand Fire, possibly DeLand Majik, Italy's Sinapsi PD, Norway's Arcteryx, Belgium's Hayabusa and the Danez from Denmark.

Fastrax also considers to attend another international meet, the Malevsky Cup 2005 in Russia. The team goals include winning the USPA Championship 2005 and qualifying for the World Meet in 2006. It could be advantageous to get in direct touch with the possible future international competition early enough. Fastrax will also attend all 2005 events of the Indiana/Mideast Skydiving League. The USPA Championship 2005 in September will be the ultimate test for Fastrax this year. The team will finish the 2005 season with the NSL Championship at SkyQuest 2005.

It sounds like a very exciting year for Fastrax, and for the NSL audience, as well. There will be plenty of opportunity to see many world class scores and performances this year and meet the top teams out in the field. John Hart explains one part of the Fastrax mission: "We really want to help improve skydiving and bring more and new knowledge to our area, and also to the non-skydiving community, especially in the midwest. This is a very important team goal."

The NSL audience is invited to discuss the Fastrax plans at the NSL Forum.