posted Aug 31st, 2019 - The 4-way revolution in Germany has really happened, and it is a serious change. EADS/Airbus/FSZ Saar lineups have dominated 4-way competition in Germany since 2001 when the first EADS/Airbus lineup (Olaf Biedermann, Thomas Spielvogel, Göran Meyer, Jens Gönnemann, Rickster Powell on camera) replaced Daedalus as the national team in 4-way Open.

The FSZ Saar lineup of 2007 finally replaced EADS/Airbus in 2007 and competed for Germany in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014 before members of both teams eventually joined forces for the world meets in 2016 and 2018.

Oceanside AtomiX competed at the national championships for the first time in September 2013, with three of the current members (Andrea Kleinschmidt, Holger Sass, Peter Ingenhaag) and videographer Lars Naeve. They finished far behind EADS/Airbus and FSZ Saar (7th - 12.2) who both posted 20+ averages.

However, the four original members knew already by then that they had one and the same goal, the top spot in Germany and competing at a World Championship of Formation Skydiving. Six years later, and almost on the 20-average level, they have accomplished their goal, together with their current team mate Mark Zimmermann, who joined AtomiX in 2017.

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German Nationals 2019		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	E,G,M,2		B,4,1		9,K,L,O		13,15,14		22,16,3		21,6,D		5,J,12		P,17,7		10,H,C,11		8,F,19		Total	Avg
1	Oceanside AtomiX	26		19		26	-1	15	-1	15		17		19		24		18		16		195	19.5
2	Airbus	22		18	-1	28		15		14	-1	15	-2	18		21		16	-1	19		186	18.6
3	Dark Energy	18	-2	14		20		11		13		16		14		17		13		14		150	15.0
4	Bardarbunga 2.0	20		14		22		13		8	-5	11	-2	14		17		13		16		148	14.8
5	Skynamite	18		14		17		11		11		14		12	-1	17		12	-1	14		140	14.0
6	NeVa FSZ Saar	19		14		15	-2	10		11		13		13		15		11		14		135	13.5
7	HorschD FSZ Saar	18		12		14		10		10		12		10		9	-2	11		11		117	11.7
8	Join Up	13	-1	13		15	-1	11		7	-2	12		10	-1	14		10	-1	11		116	11.6
9	Airgrips	10	-1	9		13		5	-1	7		10		8		9	-1	10		9	-1	90	9.0
10	4Motion	10		9		13		8		7		8		3	-1	9		6	-1	9		82	8.2

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The four original members had started their journey with Janina Jungen. Current Skynamite member Janine Tillenburg took the slot in 2015 for two years, and AtomiX was still far behind Airbus (16.7 - 19.4) at the national championship. However, they had taken the position behind the national team by then and were still aiming at the top spot.

Mark Zimmermann became the new Inside Center in 2017, and AtomiX began to reduce the distance to the national team (17.6 – 18.4), the Airbus/FSZ Saar combination of that time (Markus Bastuck, Joern Thiele, Thomas Mack, Goeran Meyer, Andreas Troegele on camera).

AtomiX did not have a good meet at the national championship a year later, and the distance grew again (16.9 - 20.0) to a significant margin. However, AtomiX redeemed themselves a month later at the ESL Championship with a 19.3 average and gathered new motivation and energy for the next step.

They continued with coach Luc Verstrepen, former NMP PCH HayaBusa member, and made new plans for 2019, which included the cooperation with a former German top competitor.

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Oceanside AtomiX scoring progression between 2013 and 2019

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Mike Vetter was first a member of the Swiss national team Endeavour before he moved to Germany and competed with different FSC Remscheid lineups for the medal rankings behind the Airbus/EADS/FSZ Saar 4-way powerhouse. He operated a skydiving center near Berlin (Gransee) very successfully before moving to Southern California and taking over the Oceanside Skydiving Center.

AtomiX and Mike Vetter connected last year and made plans together for the 2019 season. Eventually, Oceanside AtomiX adopted the name and attended two training camps in Southern California this year. Mike Vetter connected with the team at the right time and became a significant factor in the AtomiX fairy tale story with a happy ending.

The AtomiX members gave Airbus credit in the NSL Live Talk with the team right before the award ceremony for the opposition that the silver medalists offered after a complete re-building of the team. However, they won the gold medals for the first time in Germany with an impressive 19.5 average and will compete for Germany in Tanay 2020.

AtomiX will need a new Inside Center though. Mark Zimmermann had committed only for the three years and was glad that he was able to help qualify the team for their first world meet. The new recruiting campaign begins probably shortly after the award celebrations...