posted Jun 4th, 2013 - The second meet in Germany last weekend, the Northern German Championship 2013 in Kassel, was completely weathered out. It was expected to become the first AAA Class showdown between the new Gamma Ray lineup and the Usual Suspects.

It did not happen in Kassel, while six other German AAA Class teams completed their one single round at the Nord Cup. At least one of the six teams in Hohenlockstedt, home of the YUU Skydiving Center, would have liked to see how the two veteran 4way teams would enter the 2013 season.

AtomiX is a new team project in Germany that was launched at the end of the 2012 season and is aiming at the German 4way top level in the long term.

The AtomiX members have known each other for a while from other previous team projects. Peter "Pitti" Ingenhaag (Center Inside) and Janina "JayJay" Jungen (Tail) trained and competed with Paradox in 2012. Paradox won the Northern German Championship last year and the German Nationals 2012 in the intermediate class.

Paradox then became the first German team to compete at the ESL Championship last year and won the A Class gold medals with an 11.6 average in a 14-team field. The NSL News recognized Paradox as the busiest German outdoor team in 2012 on 29 July.

Peter Ingenhaag and Janina Jungen trained and competed in the A Class and the AA Class both throughout the 2012 season. Their new team AtomiX is now taking on the AAA Class dive pool.

German 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	AA Class	8,G,L	9,11	M,A,H,14	22,F,7	Q,D,21	2,J,P	O,18,B	N,4,6	E,19,C	K,8,D	Total	Avg
1	Skynamite (DE)	10	9	12	11	12	11	7	9	12	10	103	10.3
1	Paradox Kassel (DE)	9	11	14	10	11	9	10	11	9	9	103	10.3
3	YUUnited4 (DE)	9	9	10	9	9	11	8	7	10	7	89	8.9
4	Jump (DE)	7	8	8	9	10	8	9	4	10	8	81	8.1
5	4Motion (DE)	8	6	9	7	8	9	9	6	8	8	78	7.8
6	Four Soest (DE)	5	7	7	9	6	9	7	7	7	7	71	7.1

The other half of the team, the front piece of last year's team YUUnited 4, Andrea "Drea" Kleinschmidt (Point) and Holger "Holgi" Sass (Center Outside), placed right behind Paradox in 3rd place at the German Nationals 2012. YUUnited 4 then attended the first AAA Class competition at the end of the 2012 season, the second part of last year's Nord Cup.

The AtomiX lineup was obviously a perfect fit, with a complete Paradox rear piece and a complete YUUnited 4 front piece. Lars Naeve joined the new team on the camera slot, and the AtomiX lineup was ready to go.

AtomiX is a part of a new generation of AAA Class competitors in Germany who will challenge the 4way establishment soon. The AtomiX members are all between 25 and 35 years of age and have between 500 and 2,000 jumps. Indoor training helps to catch up much quicker compared to the "old days".

ESL Championship 2012		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	A Class	O,9	D,N,21	M,19	Q,2	E,6	4,P	K,J,H	B,L,G	C,A,7	8,F	Total	Avg
1	Paradox Kassel (DE)	14	11	11	11	12	12	13	10	12	10	116	11.6
2	4mula (UK)	9	11	13	10	11	11	13	11	12	12	113	11.3
3	MACH4 (NL)	16	7	8	11	10	10	16	12	10	10	110	11.0

AtomiX is not planning to do it alone. They have been coached by NMP-PCH Hayabusa member David Grauwels and former Hayabusa member Luc Verstrepen. Usual Suspects founder Uwe Soppa and new Paratec-Saar member Petra van Overfeld have also been helpful for and during AtomiX training and competition.

AtomiX trains at YUU Skydive, has spent ten hours in the wind tunnel last winter and will add three more competitions to the 2013 agenda, including the German Nationals 2013. Unfortunately, the ESL Championship is scheduled for the last weekend of the national championships, which will not allow the team to compete there again for Germany.

The plans for 2014 are in the works and may include a training camp with Hayabusa and coach Gary Smith in DeLand. AtomiX plans to continue for several years and eventually be a part of the top 4way competition in Germany. The 11-pointer last weekend was the 20th team jump and the starting point into the AtomiX project.