posted Jan 2nd, 2012 - The new year brings a personnel change on the top level of Formation Skydiving competition in Germany.

The national 4way teams, Paratec-Saar and ISB Air Remscheid, continue with the same lineups as in 2011, but the German 8way team EADS will have a new team member, which also changes the lineup of the second half of the 8way team.

This personnel change has an impact that reaches further into the German 4way competition community since the new EADS and Dynamite member has been the Center Inside of Final Four, this year's silver medalist at the national championships. Thomas Mack was the founder and heart and soul of Final Four, one of the longest standing teams in Germany, and the future of Final Four is wide open at the moment.

Thomas Mack brought several different Final Four lineups from beginner to top level of 4way competition in Germany and eventually peaked at the German Nationals 2011 with a 2nd place and a 17.7 average. He was now successfully recruited by the German 8way team EADS and thought that it was time to move on and join the national team for his first appearance at a World Championship of Formation Skydiving.

German Nationals 2011		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	1,8,21	N,H,F,9	B,5,O,16	A,19,13	7,J,2	3,20,18	L,15,12	22,P,4	Q,C,10,11	14,K,D,E	Total	Avg
1	Paratec-Saar	14	37	21	14	17	15	15	15	16	21	185	18.5
2	Final Four DeLand	14	30	20	15	18	13	13	16	17	21	177	17.7
3	Dynamite	14	31	18	14	19	12	14	14	17	20	173	17.3

The 8way slot became available when Henning Stumpp, long time member of the German national 8way lineups and also former Final Four and X-Ray Remscheid member, announced that he will step back and join 4way forces with his wife Petra Barenfanger, a former Chicas member who had the Center Outside slot for Final Four in 2011.

As a result of those moves Final Four has two open slots, and the remaining members and German silver medalists of 2011, Christian Wirth and Chris Schaefer, have no plans yet to re-build and continue with Final Four.

Thomas Mack has a lot of homework to do between now and the start of the 2012 season. He has been in the Center Inside position for a very long time and has to replace Henning Stumpp in the Center Outside slot for Dynamite. There he will fly together with piece partner Thomas "Spieli" Spielvogel, one of the most experienced 4way and 8way competitors in the sport. However, Final Four outscored Dynamite this year, and Thomas Mack can be confident about filling this slot.

The more challenging homework is coming in 8way where Thomas Mack has very little experience and replaces one of the most experienced German 8way competitors. The German 8way team has been competing on a high level and has ended up right behind the medal positions in the recent world meets and world cups, including the 4th place at the World Cup 2011.

The training and competition plans of EADS and Dynamite for 2012 are in the works. The four members of World Cup bronze medal winner Paratec-Saar are also members of the German EADS 8way lineup. The German weekend competitors have to deal with the difficulty of making plans for both events. It is realistically impossible to win medals again at the World Meet in Dubai 2012 since Arizona Airspeed will join Aerodyne Aerokart and NMP-PCH Hayabusa in the race for the three sets of IPC medals.

Germany could have an underdog chance for a medal in 8way if new member Thomas Mack can fill the slot smoothly and if the Paratec-Saar members decide to put all training efforts into the 8way event. Russia was not that far ahead at the World Cup, and the German 8way team had not trained very much. The NSL News will continue to follow the developments in Germany.