posted Feb 16th, 2009 - A closer look at the results of the 2008 World Championships of Canopy Piloting in South Africa caught the attention of the NSL News once again. The names of the DeLand Fire 4-way world champions of 2006, Shannon Pilcher, Ian Bobo and Jonathan Taggle, are not new to the NSL News audience, as they have already won several Canopy Piloting titles and medals for the PD Factory Team.

Another world-class 4-way competitor has quietly moved up in Canopy Piloting, as well, and has established his name in the top rankings of the big international meets. Pete Allum, one of the longest standing Formation Skydiving competitors, finished in 10th place of 69 Canopy Pilots in South Africa and won a bronze medal in the Accuracy category. PD Factory Team member Jay Moledzki won the overall Canopy Piloting title.

The NSL News invited Pete Allum for a live interview, which took place on 11 February 2009 in the NSL office in DeLand. Veteran coach Pete Allum had just completed a training camp with the 4-way team Bad Boys from the Czech Republic. The NSL News had already spoken with the Bad Boys, as the story on 10 February 2009 reported.

It still took a few days after the work with the Bad Boys until Pete Allum had enough time to visit the NSL office.

He was busy with another team that visited from New York. Vertical Obsession is coming back after a successful 2008 season. The same lineup that won the A Class bronze medals at the NSL Championship 2008 (Rob Jayne, Markus Lucas, Andrew Palermo, Jim Petrocelli, Lee Staebler) had booked a 3-day camp with Pete Allum in DeLand.

All Vertical Obsession members live actually on Long Island and travel to the Blue Sky Ranch for training and competition. The 3-day winter camp in DeLand was the first time that the team used a professional coach, and it worked out very well. The team members were very excited about the progression, and Vertical Obsession has already booked another 3-day camp with Pete Allum before the skydiving season begins in New York.

Finally, the 4-way competitor, coach and canopy pilot was available for the NSL News, and there were many topics to cover when Pete Allum visited on a Wednesday morning.

One of the topics was his increasing success in Canopy Piloting. He explained why some of the best 4-way competitors are also world-class swoopers. Pete Allum himself is far from being done, neither in 4-way nor in Canopy Piloting.

In fact, he plans to attend several top Canopy Piloting competitions this year, and as in 4-way he will represent Italy. He already won his first 4-way medal with the Italian 4-way team Sinapsi PD at the World Meet 2006 in Germany after trying for many years with British lineups. Universal skydiver Pete Allum has official residency in the USA, Italy and Spain. He said that he was very excited and happy after winning the bronze medal in Germany 2006.

His 4-way efforts with Sinapsi will continue and are just as promising as in 2006.

Former XL teammate Steve Hamilton has joined the Sinapsi lineup, and the team already won last year's national championship in Italy. Sinapsi 2009 has scheduled a training camp in Pete Allum's winter home DeLand in March. Indoor and outdoor camps will follow in the summer in Europe.

Pete Allum recently spends the summer with his family in Ampuriabrava, Spain, where he works full time at the popular skydiving center. Spain is a neighbor country of Italy in the south of Europe, which makes traveling easier for all members of his Italian 4-way team. He said that he works closely together with his team and coaching partner Steve Hamilton who prepares their clients in the Bodyflight Bedford windtunnel before Pete Allum follows up with the outdoor training.

The Bad Boys were the most recent example for this successful cooperation.

Pete Allum is offering his own coaching services as Inner Rhythm Coaching and has published additional information at a separate website.

The two other former XL members, Thomas Hughes and John McIver, will join Pete Allum and Steve Hamilton for a real XL reunion at the World Challenge 2009. The NSL News covered this special treat already with the story on 21 January 2009.

The live interview with Pete Allum also included a discussion of the decisions at the recent IPC meeting in Sweden.

Only the judging speed was of serious relevance for Pete Allum, as his coaching strategies depend on the rules for Formation Skydiving competition. He said that he has to continue preparing his teams to "sell points to the judges" after the IPC decision to leave the rules for judging speed untouched.

He said that he doesn't like the idea that many flaws and infringements remain undetected due to the increasing moving speed of the teams and the IPC opposition to judging with slower speed. However, he has to do what is best for the teams he is coaching and for his own team, and it will not mean slowing down...

The video of the complete interview can be viewed by clicking here.