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Did You Know...

... that Ben Liston is the SKYDIVER OF THE YEAR 2018?

Special Reward: Skydiver of the Year 2018: Ben Liston
posted Feb 20th, 2019 - Skydiving Magazine's founder Mike Truffer created the SKYDIVER OF THE YEAR award many years before he discontinued editing the very popular magazine and before dying in a skydiving accident in 2013. He had rewarded skydivers with the trophy who contributed in special ways to the sport.

His Skydiving Magazine partner Sue Clifton decided in 2015 to donate the remaining SKYDIVER OF THE YEAR trophies to the National Skydiving League. She did not have any requirements for the future use of the awards. The NSL decided to follow Mike Truffer's and Sue Clifton's tradition and dedicated the first SKYDIVER OF THE YEAR 2014 award to Lori Connor, followed by Jan Klapka in 2015.

The list of rewarded skydivers includes many Formation Skydiving competitors and begins with Patrick de Gayardon in 1991. He was famous for his skysurfing skills and explorations, while he was also aiming at the top of the world with French 4-way and 8-way teams. A year later, Guy Manos, 4-way world champion of 1985 with the DeLand Air Bears and successful movie maker ("Dropzone") received the next trophy.

Andy Peckett from Great Britain used his Formation Skydiving skills to rescue an unconscious skydiver in freefall and was the SKYDIVER OF THE YEAR in 1993, followed by British skydiving legend Tony Uragallo in 1994, a multiple national 4-way and 8-way champion.

USPA Nationals 2005
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Avg
Rank 4-way Advanced 2,A,19 F,20,D,9 C,21,N,11 15,M,8 4,6,P 5,1,H 22,7,12 3,K,16 E,17,14 13,18,J Total Avg
1 Mass Defiance 19 19 16 15 15 15 12 14 15 14 154 15.4
2 Elsinore Gravity 16 20 11 13 15 15 12 13 14 13 142 14.2
3 Perris Katalyst 14 16 14 14 12 13 9 13 11 12 128 12.8
4 Elsinore GT 13 16 11 13 13 13 9 12 13 10 123 12.3
5 Inviscid 14 15 12 13 10 14 10 9 12 13 122 12.2
6 Y-Train 10 16 8 11 12 12 12 13 13 12 119 11.9
6 Perris Storm 15 15 11 11 10 13 10 12 11 11 119 11.9
8 Cross Keys Vision 13 15 11 11 13 8 10 11 10 10 112 11.2
9 Golden Knights SA 13 14 9 10 10 10 10 10 7 9 102 10.2
10 Perris CNC 13 14 10 10 10 7 8 9 12 7 100 10.0
10 AZ Seals TNT 12 12 9 11 10 8 8 10 11 9 100 10.0
12 Weekend of Fun 11 10 10 9 10 11 8 10 11 8 98 9.8
13 Perris Helion 11 13 10 11 10 10 7 6 10 9 97 9.7
14 Perris Ice 11 8 10 11 9 9 9 9 11 8 95 9.5
15 LMP 11 14 8 11 11 11 11 11 0 0 88 8.8
16 Perris Censored 9 11 7 9 8 8 8 8 7 8 83 8.3
17 Spaceland's Method 10 12 8 7 8 7 6 7 9 5 79 7.9
17 Perris KII 10 7 9 8 8 6 6 9 9 7 79 7.9
19 Mass Confusion 6 6 6 0 5 0 5 4 5 6 43 4.3
Original Mass Defiance lineup in 2005
image by: USPA/Omniskore
The NSL News will follow up with more of the award winners of the past after now introducing the new SKYDIVER OF THE YEAR 2018, Ben Liston.

He is mostly known in the Unites States as one of the original Mass Defiance members, a 4-way team from New England who started their team project in 2004. Mass Defiance won USPA's Advanced Class gold medals in 2005, and the winning average of 15.4 became a new U.S. standard for "amateur teams".

However, a great team performance at a certain time in history would not be enough to qualify for the SKYDIVER OF THE YEAR award with its special purpose.

What made Mass Defiance special is the fact that the original team members (Ben Liston, Jim Rees, Brian Stephens, John Silva, videographer Steve Feldman) are still active in the sport, more than 15 years after competing at their first USPA Nationals.

In fact, original members Ben Liston and Brian Stephens finished with a 20.3 average for Mass Defiance in 4th place at the USPA Nationals 2018. John Silva competed with his original team mates at the SkyVenture New Hampshire Indoor Championship in January, where Jim Rees was judging. He joins the active lineup whenever he is not sitting in the judging room.

USPA Nationals 2018
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Avg
Rank 8-way Open 8,B,6 P,3,C,M 1,18,Q 22,E,16 11,17,H L,12,13 7,A,20 19,14,9 J,5,4 G,15,10 Total Avg
1 XP8 US 17 20 19 17 14 13 17 14 21 17 169 16.9
2 Arizona Airspeedish US 13 22 19 18 15 15 15 13 16 19 165 16.5
3 Qatar Falcons QA 16 21 18 14 15 15 16 13 17 16 161 16.1
4 Amphibious Attack Tigers US 12 14 13 14 10 9 10 9 14 13 118 11.8
5 French Monsters US 10 9 10 10 9 10 5 10 10 11 94 9.4
6 Blocksmiths XP US 10 10 10 6 6 6 8 7 10 7 80 8.0
Meet Director Ben Liston at SkyVenture New Hampshire - Instructional 4-way video by Ben Liston
Special Reward: With Arizona Airspeed at the USPA Nationals 2018
The whole team probably deserves the SKYDIVER OF THE YEAR award, and it would not be the first time. Mike Truffer and Sue Clifton rewarded the complete original Arizona Airspeed lineup with the special honor in 1998.

Mass Defiance became the perfect example for a team that was not only pursuing the USPA medals. All team members were and are so passionate about Formation Skydiving competition that they continued for 15 years without a serious chance to win more relevant medals and titles. Mass Defiance is still one of the best "amateur teams" in the world.

Ben Liston and Jim Rees put even more into the sport. Jim Rees has become one of the best and most experienced Formation Skydiving judges in the history of the sport, while Ben Liston passionately encourages and inspires skydivers to join Formation Skydiving competition. The indoor competition at SkyVenture New Hampshire is his signature event as a happy 4-way party on a high performance level, and he is helping teams with coaching and advice wherever he can.

He already received a highly valuable reward last year when he was selected for Arizona Airspeed's 8-way lineup at the USPA Nationals, which meant possibly more to him than the SKYDIVER OF THE YEAR trophy. However, the NSL award honors his achievements and contributions next to the athletic skills. It was still a close call between him and Jim Rees...

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