posted Nov 20th, 2012 - One of the most amazing stories of the USPA Nationals 2012 has not been told yet, and it is not related only to the scores and placements. It's the story of a female 4way lineup.

The NSL News has covered the 4way and 8way teams from Dubai and Qatar ever since both Formation Skydiving projects were launched and gave the impression that they will eventually have a serious impact on the skydiving world. There is more than enough evidence by now that the host of the Mondial 2012 is in the sport to stay. The female 4way lineup of the Dubai delegation, the Dubai Asaar Ladies, still stand for even more than only another sign of Dubai's relevance in the future of skydiving competition.

Eliana Rodriguez and Craig Girard are completing their second year in Dubai, and the UAE emirate has registered a team in each category of Formation Skydiving competition, and also in all other events. However, the female 4way lineup is still the most outstanding effort to build a solid foundation of skydivers, teams and competitors on the Arabian Peninsula.

Even though the city of Dubai is a highly cosmopolitan society with a diverse and vibrant culture, the influence of Islamic and Arab culture and lifestyle are still very prominent, and it surely is not the easiest situation to be a female skydiver in the Muslim world. The NSL News met with the Dubai Asaar Ladies in Eloy to discuss skydiving in the United Arabian Emirates and the team's story.

It was a very open conversation, and the young ladies from Dubai did not shy away from any topics. The conversation was easy, as all team members speak English fluently. This is also necessary for another reason. Alena Chistova, one of the most experienced Russian 4way and 8way competitors, is the team's coach. She had to work on her English language too when she moved to Dubai in March this year.

Videographer Angelique "Angie" Marie Peirry completes the international group. She was born in Germany, grew up in South Africa and now lives in Dubai to film the team.

The story became really amazing when the team members explained how the project began. The young Dubai ladies are all between 17 and 19 years of age, and they began with AFF in January 2012. Seven months and 400 jumps later they posted a 10.7 average with the Open Class competition draw at the USPA Nationals.

Three of the team members went to school together and heard about the skydiving project organized by Skydive Dubai. They wanted to do it and began to talk to their parents who were first shocked. They did not give up and eventually convinced their families that it can be done in a safe way.

Then they started with AFF in January this year and continued with 2ways when Alena Chistova was put in charge of the female 4way project. The 4way training then began in May, and the NSL Talk video provides more details of the team project.

USPA Nationals 2012		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	4way Women	3,B,K,H	F,7,22	O,4,D,13	A,M,11,8	N,P,G,19	L,20,1	5,16,J	6,21,12	18,17,10	E,C,Q,15	Total	Avg
4	Golden Knights (US)	23	22	20	22	24	17	21	16	17	26	208	20.8
10	Perris Wicked (US)	18	15	14	16	20	11	16	12	9	17	148	14.8
15	Dubai Asaar Ladies (AE)	14	10	7	11	14	9	11	9	9	13	107	10.7
13	Crimson Fox (CA)	11	11	12	11	13	8	9	8	8	13	104	10.4
17	Fastrax Tenacity (US)	12	11	10	8	12	8	11	7	8	10	97	9.7

Not only the story of the team's roots is amazing and impressive. The athletic performance is just as outstanding and very promising, as a quick look at the modified leaderboard of the USPA Nationals shows.

The Dubai Asaar Ladies outscored two other female lineups, including the national team from Canada, Crimson Fox. There is no doubt that the Dubai team will be the youngest and newest team at the Mondial 2012, however, they will most likely not end up at the bottom of the international leaderboard.

The top teams in the female 4way world are still far away, but they better watch out. The Dubai Asaar Ladies have the highest goals, and they don't want to wait very long until they will challenge the top teams. They plan to catch up with the top level next year, and this year's numbers make you wonder. The team members trust coach Alena Chistova that she will keep moving them up and forward, just as she managed to encourage them when there were doubts and obstacles. The students will not be able to keep up with the coach at the Mondial 2012, as Alena Chistova will compete once again for Russia's Illusions. However, the situation could already be different next year...