posted Dec 9th, 2019 - The NSL News reported on November 29th how the Brazilian 4-way team So Pressao peaked at the November meet of the World Tunnel League and won for the first time at iFLY Sao Paulo. The story provided the details of the competition in Brazil.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the competition was the fact that So Pressao competed with exactly the same lineup as at the very beginning of the team's history. Felipe Braga de Almeida, Frederico Augusto Cardoso Martin, Marconi Medeiros Marques de Oliveira and Manoel Medeiros Damaceno posted their first scores on an NSL leaderboard in April 2005 and then again in November this year.

So Pressao as a team was actually born several years earlier. The same lineup came together in 2001 and had only two years with a different team member. Daniel Sá stepped in for Felipe Braga de Almeida when he was not available in 2002 and 2006.

The members of the original and current lineup knew each other not only from the dropzone. As cousins, Marconi Medeiros Marques de Oliveira and Manoel Medeiros Damaceno also have family bonds, and Felipe Braga de Almeida went to college together with Manoel Medeiros Damaceno.

---

Brazilian Indoor Nationals 2018		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	6,17,G	9,M,P,18	15,J,B,K	E,O,7,4	16,C,F,10	19,5,21	D,2,11	14,N,L,Q	Total	Avg
1	CTR Optimum	21	29	26	25	22	19	18	22	182	22.8
2	So Pressao	18	23	22	23	19	16	17	21	159	19.9
3	Go Fly	17	23	24	22	17	18	17	20	158	19.8
4	CTR Storm	17	21	22	23	18	14	16	20	151	18.9
5	Harpia	15	17	21	18	15	16	14	21	137	17.1
6	Noth Force	12	16	23	22	14	13	14	20	134	16.8
7	Anima	11	16	16	14	13	12	12	15	109	13.6
8	Paradocks	12	16	16	13	14	11	10	15	107	13.4

So Pressao at Brazilian Tunnel League meets

---

So Pressao won the Brazilian Nationals in the beginner class before Brazil became a part of the NSL Network. It was the time when current CTR Optimum member George Narita trained and competed with the Zossers, one of the top teams in Brazil, and before CTR Optimum were founded in 2005. So Pressao won the national championship title on the next level in 2002 and then moved up into the AAA/Open Class year by year, until they had taken the second highest 4-way position in Brazil behind CTR Optimum.

The team career was then interrupted for a long time after a bad landing accident during a training camp in Arizona in 2006, two weeks before the national championships. Frederico Augusto Cardoso Martin was severely injured. He said that it was almost a miracle that he survived: "I lost a kidney, the spleen and took some stitches on the liver. My heart stopped beating three times, and I broke all the bones from hip to the feet, except the right femur."

His leg was amputated between ankle and knee, and his team mates decided to stop skydiving together with him. Only Manoel Medeiros Damaceno continued. However, the team mates had become good friends and continued meeting each other in their lives without skydiving. Frederico Augusto Cardoso Martin had to leave behind other physical activities, as well, and focused on work and family. He said that he gained a lot of weight, up to 110 kg/242 lb.

---

Brazilian Skydiving League April 2005		1	2	3	4	5	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	C,N,H,5	O,22,2	P,Q,B,K,7	G,E,14,M	F,20,9	Total	Avg
1	CTR Optimum	13	12	18	14	14	71	14.2
2	Só Pressão	10	10	17	12	14	63	12.6
3	X-Press	4	5	8	5	5	27	5.4
4	Agora Vai	4	6	2	4	4	20	4.0

---

Things changed when a windtunnel opened in Brasilia, federal capital of Brazil and seat of the government. Frederico Augusto Cardoso Martin said that Manoel Medeiros Damaceno "set a trap" for his former So Pressao team mates. He invited them for a birthday party at iFLY Brasilia, and the new beginning was in the works when they flew together again.

Eventually they did some 4-way that night, which initiated the comeback, as Frederico Augusto Cardoso Martin remembered: "Boom, the flame of the old passion started to ignite, and we were speaking about a comeback."

The team started to fly a little to see if it would work, and it turned out as "no holding back". Frederico Augusto Cardoso Martin promised his team mates to lose weight and that he would be back in his old jumpsuit within two months. He lost 20 kg/44 lb, and won the bet with his team mates, who still owe him.

So Pressao called Pete Allum, who was coaching the team in Arizona when the accident happened, and asked him for help with the team's comeback. It was complete when So Pressao showed up with the original lineup at the Brazilian Indoor Nationals at iFLY Sao Paulo, back in 2nd place behind CTR Optimum with a 19.9 average.