... that DeLand Fire will feel more pressure in Russia?
posted Jun 25th, 2005 -
The last round of the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2005 is now on NSL-TV. It completes the coverage of the whole event at Skydive DeLand in March this year just before the next major event is about to begin, the Malevsky Memorial Cup 2005.
The FSL Shamrock Showdown 2005 had been a surprising and impressive show set on the Shamrock stage by the new DeLand Fire throughout the first nine rounds. Fire's performance included a few little glitches here and there, however, the new team was already much more consistent than anybody had expected.
DeLand Fire at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2005
It was still a very close race with the Golden Knights after nine rounds. The Army team was only one single point behind, and it would have been no surprise if Fire was still caught by the Knights right before the finishing line. The pressure was on a very high level, and only Fire's Gary Smith had ever been competing under such pressure on the highest performance level.
It did not happen, the Fire in March could not be extinguished by neither the Golden Knights nor any other team in DeLand. In fact, Fire with Natasha Montgomery, Gary Smith, Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo completed the meet with a final statement of pysical and mental strength - whether it was intended or not.
Sinapsi PD, Golden Knights and DeLand Fire at the Shamrock 2005 awards
DeLand Fire was simply the best team in any aspect of the last round of the meet and even increased the lead by two points over the Golden Knights for a 3-point victory after ten rounds. Fire was the fastest team at both blocks of the sequence (13-B-D-8) and had also the best average time for the free transitions. The score of 23 points was the sixth highscore for Fire.
The Golden Knights scored 21 points for the same round and had the 22nd point just out of working time (35.06 seconds), according to the NSL stop watch. However, DeLand Fire was almost as close to the completition of the whole Block 8 (Canadian T - Canadian T) at the end of the working time, which would have been the 24th scoring point.
Competition Draw with Fire members at the Shamrock 2005
The distance between DeLand Fire, the Golden Knights in second place and the other world class teams behind did not really matter that much when it became clear that DeLand Fire had won the competition. The impressive part was the fact that the new team had not shown any serious weaknesses throughout the whole 10-round competition. The Fire performance brought back memories of the Golden Knights at the USPA Championship 2002 or the French 4-way team at the world meet in Gap 2003 - only on a lower scoring level.
The consistency of Fire's performance at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2005 was all the more surprising since the team's line-up includes Natasha Montgomery who made her first skydive in November 2002. She has been trained only by world class coaches and competitors in the last two years, however, experience and consistency is difficult to learn or teach.
Natasha Montgomery with THomas Hughes and Robert Healy
The question is how DeLand Fire will be able to maintain this level of consistency and even increase the scoring level. PD Factory Team members Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo have their job commitments to the PD agenda of the canopy swooping events. Gary Smith is a very busy coach. Alternate Thomas Hughes is not always available due to his own commitments.
Fire has not trained very much between the Shamrock in March and now. Ian Bobo's broken arm after a freefall collision with Gary Smith during Block 8 on April 1, 2005, (check NSL News story) put an additional hold on the team's training efforts, which were finally resumed this month.
Natasha Montgomery with Golden Knights Matt Davidson and Brooks Weiner after the ten rounds of the Shamrock 2005
DeLand Fire will attend the Malevsky Memorial Cup 2005. The high-profile competition in Russia has more than enough world class teams lined up to serve as the next serious test for Fire. It will be very interesting to see whether the Shamrock 2005 champion will be able to repeat the March performance or even show progress.
DeLand Fire is not the underdog any longer, and the other US top contenders for this year's USPA 4-way title will observe the Fire performance very carefully. Both Airspeed 4-way line-ups and Team Fastrax will compete at the Malevsky Cup, as well. The pressure on Fire has grown. The competition in Russia begins on July 4, and the NSL News will be live on site.
