posted Dec 26th, 2015 - Belgium does not only have the reigning indoor and outdoor 4-way world champions of NMP PCH Hayabusa, who have been catching the attention of the skydiving world in the past years. There are several other remarkable Belgian teams in the wake of the role models.

Thunder ISR has progressed on parallel tracks after original Hayabusa member Sven Ibens stepped back to support the military career towards full time training and competition for his former team mates and current world champions. Eventually, Hayabusa and Thunder now even joined forces to form a world class 8-way team, as well.

Belgium also has a team in 4-way Women, Les Stunts, who made it to the finals (6th) at the last World Meet in Prostejov 2014 and posted a 20.5 indoor average at the 2nd Flyspot Open Championship 2015. It was the same event where another team from Belgium won the A Class competition: Jetmax.

Jetmax is the perfect Belgian example for a team that uses the four NSL competition classes to learn and master the complete dive pool gradually, step by step and year by year.

The Jetmax story begins in 2013 when the first lineup (Steven Lopes, Olivier Cavier, Caroline Mantia, Joey Soudant, with Gil Sand on camera) trained and competed in the Rookie Class. Outside Center Ludovic Basset explained how team founder Steven Lopes eventually ended up with the current lineup:

"When you skydive in Belgium, a small European country 10 times smaller than Arizona, you don't really enjoy 365 days of blue sky per year. But what you have is three teams pushing you to train hard, to give everything you have and to train even more: Hayabusa, Thunder and Les Stunts. Jetmax is the story of one lonely skydiver - Steven - with one sponsor (Jetmax, a local Jetski distributor) striving to become better in FS4, with only 200 jumps in his logbook."

Flyspot Indoor 2015			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		K,G,6	A,E,9	P,J,2	L,19	N,21	D,4	O,B,F	M,Q,7	8,C	H,6	Total	Avg
1	JETMAX	BE	18	23	17	14	15	12	38	22	11	19	189	18.9
2	Zoonte	CZ	13	22	19	10	12	14	36	24	15	19	184	18.4
3	CRW Team	PL	15	20	17	10	12	12	32	23	12	17	170	17.0

He said that Steven Lopes experimented with a few different lineups. The recruiting phase in the Rookie Class lasted until he found three clones in January 2015: Steve Canas (Inside Center - 43), Simon Renard (Tail - 31) and Ludovic Basset (Outside Center - 39). Steven Lopes' cousin Gil Sand has been on the Jetmax camera since the first Rookie Class lineup started in 2013.

Ludovic Basset remembered that the 2015 lineup still had their own obstacles to deal with at the beginning of the year: "7th of January 2015, first training: two open face helmets, one freeflying suit for Simon, absolutely no clue whatsoever about FS4 and very little experience in a tunnel - a disaster. But again, when you skydive in Belgium, you are always in contact with three teams pushing you to train hard. The strength of Hayabusa, the wisdom of Thunder and the beauty of Les Stunts - All of this is in the air in Belgium."

This support, a military-style coaching by Les Stunts Tail Mel Debry, 16 hours of indoor training in 12 months and some outdoor jumps moved Jetmax from the very bottom of the Rookie Class to the top of the A Class in 2015.

ISR Grand Prix 2015			Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7	Round 8	Total	Avg
Rank	A Class		P,21	C,A,B	6,7	E,F,Q	N,M,G	O,2	K,H,9	D,L,J	Total	Avg
1	Jetmax	BE	19	31	17	39	22	17	28	23	196	24.5
2	Spacials	BE	15	31	17	38	24	16	27	5	173	21.6
3	Zero	IT	15	23	13	27	18	12	21	12	141	17.6

Jetmax calls Skydive Spa the team's home DZ, the same place where Hayabusa started the team career. Jetmax also trains at other local DZs, depending on the weather (Skydive Cerfontaine or PCV Schaffen), and visits the Airspace wind tunnel every week for 30 minutes of indoor training.

Jetmax moved up into the A Class after winning the Belgian Rookie Class gold medals at the national championships in August. The 2nd place with a 16.7 indoor average at the Revenge in Bedford was a great start in the new category, and Jetmax followed up with two 1st places: 18.9 at Flyspot in Poland and 24.5 at the ISR Grand Prix 2015.

The 2015 lineup is now done with the A Class dive pool and adds the eight AA Class blocks to next year's training plan.

Jetmax is not planning to slow down in the new competition class. The team actually wants to double the indoor training time to 24 hours over the course of the year. More outdoor training is on the agenda, as well, since Jetmax is eager to gain more true 4-way experience.

Ludovic Basset said that the Jetmax success is based on the true passion for skydiving. However, there is also more work behind it: "It is also the dedication the team members put into the adventure. Supported by international Belgian musical artist Kid Noize, and with the help of their own PR girl Christel, Jetmax also managed to convince major skydiving gear brands to help with equipment, notably Intrudair (jump suits), Akando (gloves) and even an all-american company, SquareOne, which agreed to equip the team with new Kiss helmets."

The Belgian AA Class team will compete at the World Challenge 2016 and try to get in contention for medals positions. Jetmax will continue to get coaching for all slots from Les Stunts members and listen to Hayabusa and Thunder. They are also hoping to get some support from the Belgian federation and additional sponsors to help the long way to the AAA Class mastery, which is on the Jetmax agenda in 2017.