posted Jan 8th, 2004 - The previously recorded and unpublished interviews from the NSL News archives concluded for the 2003 season with Jerome David on 29 December 2003. DeLand Norgies member Lise Nansen-Aune, triple bronze medalist of 1999, 2001 and 2003, was the first Formation Skydiving celebrity discussing topics at the beginning of the new year.

She had spent several years visiting Skydive DeLand in Florida mostly for training camps in the winter, and she eventually moved to DeLand. She attended her last world meet in 2003 in pregnancy and continued for a few more months and meets before taking a break from active skydiving. The NSL News met with her on 8 January 2004:

"The DeLand Norgies officially discontinued with the 4-way lineup that won the bronze medals at FAI World Championships of Formation Skydiving in 1999, 2001 and 2003. Lise Nansen-Aune was the center outside of the team with Pal Kolbenstvedt, Carl-Erik Tuv and Torstein Valen. The highest-scoring female competitor in the history of 4-way Formation Skydiving now continues her work with the Formation Skydiving competition in Norway. She was recently assigned as the Norwegian national coach. The NSL News asked her for an update about the current situation of Norwegian teams. The interview took place today at the NSL office in DeLand."

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NSL News interview with Lise Nansen-Aune on 8 January 2004

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NSL NEWS: Lise, you look pregnant now, how much longer? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: Seven weeks, I guess. NSL NEWS: How did it feel to skydive and compete at the world meet, the USPA Nationals and SkyQuest 2003 with the baby in your womb? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: I felt a little heavier, especially at the nationals and SkyQuest. The world meet was still easier. I did not feel pregnant by then. I was like four months pregnant in France. SkyQuest was funny since Eliana and Arianna had to wear so much weight, and I did not have to.

NSL NEWS: It seems as if the Norgies have been in the family building process. Carl-Erik had already a big family, you and Pal built families last year. Was this the main reason that the Norgies decided to discontinue? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: Pal has been on the national team since 1991, Torstein, Carl-Erik and myself since 1994. We all felt the need for a change of focus in our lives. Torstein has not been a part of the family building. However, he has been busy in his new career as a pilot. Regardless of the family situation we had decided that 2003 would be the final year. We were actually done in 2001. But we had too much fun and could not quit. So we continued with less training for two more years. The fact that we had such a good time as a team is the main reason that we did the last two bonus years. It was a lot of fun.

NSL NEWS: The Norgies with the same lineup won the bronze medal in 1999, 2001 and 2003 at the world meets. Are you proud of these achievements for a small country? Or is it frustrating to win only the bronze medal every time? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: Yes and yes. We were hoping for an upgrade in 2001 from the bronze medal. But it did not turn out that way. In 2003, we went to the world meet with the knowledge that we could win with eight perfect rounds. We still knew that the gold medal was not realistic with the little training in 2003. On the other hand, we were the most experienced team, and competition is competition.

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Shamrock Showdown 2004			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		F,K,17,7	D,P,12,9	H,B,M,4	15,2,13	J,C,16,1	21,22,O	20,18,3	8,14,E	19,10,11	Q,6,L,G	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Majik	US	25	25	25	18	23	20	17	19	17	24	213	21.3
2	Sinapsi PD	IT	26	22	26	17	19	20	15	18	16	25	204	20.4
3	Genesis	US	23	21	24	15	19	17	15	18	17	21	190	19.0
4	Sebastian Teiwaz AAA	US	20	17	19	13	16	14	12	14	11	18	154	15.4
4	Danez	DK	19	17	19	13	16	14	12	13	14	17	154	15.4
6	DeLand Mojo	US	16	14	17	11	15	13	9	13	11	15	134	13.4
7	Optic Kurves	US	14	15	16	12	15	13	6	13	9	16	129	12.9
8	V2	UK	14	15	16	10	14	11	-	-	-	-	80	13.3
9	42	SE	14	13	17	11	12	12	-	-	-	-	79	13.2
10	4 Motion	UK	12	11	9	9	7	7	-	-	-	-	55	9.2
Rank	A Class		F,7	D,P,9	H,B,M	4,2	J,C,L	21,O	G,A,N	8,E	19,K	Q,6	Total	Avg
1	4tunate	NL	12	11	13	8	6	9	10	9	9	3	90	9.0
2	FSC JAMMM	US	10	4	6	5	6	5	-	-	-	-	36	6.0
Rank	Rookie		E,F,K	B,D,P	O,H,M	E,J,C	B,Q,L	O,G,A					Total	Avg
1	Oestra Aera Majik	NO	18	15	15	14	14	13	-	-	-	-	89	14.8
2	Harem	US	18	9	13	12	11	17	-	-	-	-	80	13.3
3	SkyCruisers	US	15	12	16	15	11	10	-	-	-	-	79	13.2
4	S... Happens	US	14	9	0	15	11	11	-	-	-	-	60	10.0
5	Rookies	US	3	2	4	4	5	12	-	-	-	-	30	5.0

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NSL NEWS: Norway has been at the top of the world in 4-way or 8-way since 1991. How large will the gap be with your team not competing any longer for Norway? How long will it take until Norway will be back? Or will it ever be back? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: The goal is to build up a new team and to be on the podium in 4-way again in 2006.

NSL NEWS: Who is in the new national team? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: Alexander Gamme (Inside Center - 27), Oyvind Buer (Tail - 26), Ditta Valsdottir (Point - 31), Ole Petter Hjelle (Outside Center - 33), Morten Sondrol (camera). NSL NEWS: How were they selected? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: We had selections for one week in Norway in August 2003 where any Norwegian skydiver could attend. Then we had physical tests, interviews and technical skydiving. Then I had to make a decision and pick the team according to this information. We now have a 4-way national team and also a farm team, the Gonnabees, which consists of Tore Buer, Derek Broughton, Jens Arvei and Hakon Haukebo. The farm team members are all very young and hungry skydivers between 19 and 25 years of age.

NSL NEWS: Is there any qualification event for the national team, or do you simply have the authority to assign a team with selected members as the national team? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: We have selections every other year. It is not given that these guys will always be on the national team. Norway selects single team members for the national team, not a complete team. Other than that, they do not have to win a meet, even not the national championship. They still have to attend the nationals though.

NSL NEWS: What is the competitive history of the new team members? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: Ole Petter was the Norwegian Marathon champion in 1996. In skydiving he was on the player/coach team Punky Fish with Shannon Pilcher and me in 2002 and 2003. He was the Norgies' alternate last year. Ditta was a competitive and successful volleyball player in Iceland before she joined the Norgie Girls. Her team won the silver medals at the world meets in 2001 and 2003 in the 4-way Women event. Aleksander recently climbed a 22,000 ft. mountain in Nepal and competed with the Norgie Rookies. He was the alternate for my team in 2001 and 2002. Oyvind is a climber, as well, and won medals in 1999 and 2000. He is a low-experienced skydiving competitor and attended the FSL April meet in 2003 with the Wonnabees.

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Florida Skydiving League April 2004			1	2	3	4	5	6	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		D,19,Q,7	11,5,O	G,L,P,C,1	N,3,B,17	K,F,1,15	6,A,18	Total	Avg
1	Arcteryx	NO	18	13	17	17	15	14	94	15.7
2	Sebastian Teiwaz AAA	US	15	15	14	16	12	14	86	14.3
3	Vitesse	DK	14	11	16	14	14	11	80	13.3
4	Air4s	DK	12	8	14	11	10	9	64	10.7
5	Windline Lightning	US	11	8	8	9	9	9	54	9.0
Rank	A Class		D,19	4,7	G,L,P	N,9	K,F,8	6,A	Total	Avg
1	FSC JAMMM	US	5	3	6	8	7	7	36	6.0
Rank	Rookie		E,D,Q	B,G,L	O,P,C	E,N,K	B,F,A	O,H,M	Total	Avg
1	Captain Karlsen's Crew	NO	11	10	10	11	17	12	71	11.8

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NSL NEWS: How much training does the training plan include until the medal position in 2006? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: The plan includes 850 jumps this year, then 1000 per year in 2005 and also in 2006. NSL NEWS: What else will the new national coach do with the team to bring it back to the top? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: We have a physical training plan for each team member. Together with the team members and the "Olympia Toppen", the top athletic center in Norway, we have set some goals for strength, VO2 Max (maximum oxygen consumption measured on a tread mill), as well as flexibility. We set some specific goals for what they should achieve in order to become a top athlete. They are already working on that. Mental training and windtunnel training are other crucial parts of the program. This all means that they follow the same program we already applied. It is long-term hard work and no magic portions.

NSL NEWS: How much does the farm team train? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: The farm team made 80 jumps in DeLand in November 2003. They will add another 100-120 jumps in March. Then they will spend the rest of the season in Norway. NSL NEWS: Let's talk about numbers, which are probably a part of the plan. What will the national team put on the scoreboard this year and next year and in 2006, how about the farm team? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: We have not talked about numbers yet. NSL NEWS: When will they attend the first competition? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: It will be the Florida Skydiving League 2004 meet in April for the national team.

NSL NEWS: How is the financial support for the team members? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: They have a foundation from the Norwegian Air Sports Federation, which is the equivalent of USPA in the USA. They get a certain amount of money from there. They have to pay the rest by themselves. We have a team member contribution that each member has to pay per year, as well.

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FAI World Meet 2004			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		B,P,C,18	9,15,16	K,11,19	E,F,7,5	A,J,21,12	6,4,10	17,Q,L,1	H,14,3	13,22,O	N,M,D,2	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Majik	US	29	23	17	30	18	19	27	21	19	24	227	22.7
2	Maubeuge	FR	28	22	18	30	17	19	23	20	18	24	219	21.9
3	Sky Panthers	RU	24	21	19	25	22	15	28	19	16	22	211	21.1
4	Sinapsi PD	IT	22	21	20	28	21	18	23	19	16	22	210	21.0
5	EADS	DE	20	18	17	24	17	16	19	17	16	19	183	18.3
6	HayaBusa	BE	21	17	17	21	11	16	20	17	17	21	178	17.8
7	Endeavour	CH	16	17	14	19	16	13	19	14	14	-	142	15.8
7	Arcteryx	NO	19	14	15	21	15	13	17	15	13	-	142	15.8
9	Danez	DK	17	16	13	21	11	15	19	15	14	-	141	15.7
10	Spain	ES	19	16	15	21	15	11	16	12	14	-	139	15.4
11	Voodoo	UK	15	14	14	19	15	13	14	12	-	-	116	14.5
12	VNE	UK	15	15	13	18	15	11	14	13	-	-	114	14.3
13	Australia	AU	11	15	13	18	15	13	14	13	-	-	112	14.0
14	Stratosfear	CA	15	14	12	17	13	12	16	12	-	-	111	13.9
15	R-Fource	NL	16	14	13	17	11	10	14	12	-	-	107	13.4
15	Matrix	AT	13	14	13	18	13	13	11	12	-	-	107	13.4
17	New Zealand	NZ	15	14	12	14	13	11	15	12	-	-	106	13.3
18	Croatia	HR	16	11	12	16	13	11	9	10	-	-	98	12.3
19	Slovenia	SI	14	11	10	12	10	9	9	10	-	-	85	10.6
20	Kazakhstan	KZ	5	5	0	6	4	6	5	4	-	-	35	4.4
21	Iceland	IS	2	1	1	3	1	2	4	1	-	-	15	1.9

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NSL NEWS: How much is that? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: It varies. You pay a lot in the beginning, and the amount decreases with your time on the team. The rest of the budget comes through sponsorships, skills camps, etc. organized by the team, including the coach. NSL NEWS: How much of the budget is covered by the federation? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: Approx. 30 %.

NSL NEWS: How much time do the team members have to commit to the project? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: 20 weeks of training, competition in 2004, excluding skills camps. NSL NEWS: Do any of the team members still have a normal job, and/or wife and kids? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: They all have jobs outside of skydiving but no families. NSL NEWS: What are they doing? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: Their jobs allow them a flexible schedule. Ole Petter is a medical doctor. Oyvind works as a school teacher. Aleks studies and works as a journalist. Ditta is a sports physiologist.

NSL NEWS: How is your official position with the federation? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: I am the team manager, which is a 25% administrative position. That is just to organize the team, the financial budgets, and team management, organizing skills camps. I am also the head coach for the national team. The team provides the coaching job; the team manager position is related to the federation.

NSL NEWS: Does this make a full-time job? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: No. NSL NEWS: Have you officially moved to DeLand? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: Yes. NSL NEWS: How does the federation work with the national coach living in Florida? LISE NANSEN-AUNE: There is no need to live in Norway to do the job. It is actually more convenient to live here where all the action is and where you get first-hand information of the competition world. The team trains in DeLand, as well. The communication with the federation can easily be done electronically.

NSL NEWS: Lise, welcome to DeLand, happy mother and family days, thank you for your time.