Big announcement from Rhythm. After this upcoming Nationals in October, Andrew, Christy, Justin and Steve will be stepping back from the competition team. However, the competition team will continue with Doug at the helm rebuilding. From a coaching perspective, Doug and his new teammates will continue the great skydiving and wind tunnel events and coaching we have always done in the past. In addition, Andrew will continue with his events and coaching as a member of the Rhythm coaching organization. Steve and JaNette will also continue events and coaching under the Rhythm name with no change through January, but after our January events, and for the next year it will be at a reduced capacity as they focus on family and JaNette’s healing. Christy has always done great things in the coaching world under her business, Fury coaching, and an occasional partner to Rhythm, and she’ll continue to do that going forward. Justin will remain involved as well, but will return to his full-time professor gig.

We are extremely proud of all we have accomplished over 14 years of competing and coaching as Rhythm. As individuals and a team, we won the US Nationals in every FS discipline there is. This August, we took silver at the World Championships. We also won or medaled at various wind tunnel competitions in 4way and 8way over the years, including winning 4way and 8way at the US Indoor National Championships, and winning 8way at the World Indoor Championships. As we take next year to rebuild, it’s bittersweet because we love working and training together. If we were sick of each other, this would be a whole lot easier! We each just have personal responsibilities and goals that would make it impossible to continue the commitment needed to compete at the highest level. We are confident, however, that Doug will succeed as he takes on the challenging but exciting task of rebuilding.

From a coaching perspective, Rhythm, along with our partners, has built an organization that is second to none. From The All-American Invitationals to our Rookie Skills camps, from tunnel workshops that coach over 200 hours every year to individual team coaching, from the Rhythm 101 and 401 apps, to the founding of the Women’s Skydiving Network, we are proud of contributing to the growth of skydivers at every level, across the globe. And to be clear, you can expect to see the same strong presence from the Rhythm coaching organization going forward!

We’d like to thank our supporters over the years. We have the best fans, who are truly also great friends, and the best sponsors, without whom we could never have accomplished all that we did. We look forward to working with you at an upcoming jumping event or tunnel workshop, and we’re excited to see what the next generation of Rhythm competitors achieve! Go Rhythm!