posted Sep 22nd, 2021 - One of the twelve teams on the Belgian leaderboard started even later, compared to AAA Class teams Ayro and Falco, and still went through all three competition classes. High Voltage launched their team project in 2018, and four of the original team members (Lena Clynhens, Evelyne Wauters, Maxim Paternoster, Johannes Wirt on camera) have moved from the Rookie Class of 2018 to AA competition this year.

High Voltage are actually the new Belgian AA Class champions, as the two 4-way teams from Qatar could not win medals. High Voltage will probably join Ayro, Falco and Phoenix on the AAA Class leaderboard next year.

The NSL News covered the interesting history of the team comprehensively with an update after the NSL Cloud Mondial 2020. It was the online event in the middle of the corona virus crisis that High Voltage used to transition from A to AA Class competition. They finished in the middle of the AA leaderboard of nine teams with an 8.3 average.

A year later, when most of the Formation Skydiving competition countries in the world are back to run at least their national championships, High Voltage was still the only AA Class team in Belgium and posted their first 2-digit 10.5 average with the same lineup as in 2020. Hanne Verbauwhede had replaced Stijn Emonds when High Voltage transitioned into AA Class competition at the end of the 2019 season.

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Belgian Outdoor Nationals 2021			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class		22,19		D,20,C		K,E,F,G		21,18		M,4,J		15,H,1		O,N,P,Q		6,B,11		A,2,9		14,8		Total	Avg
1	Cheetahs	QA	13		18	-2	25	-2	14		22		17		31	-2	17		20		11		188	18.8
2	Lions	QA	15		17	-4	25	-1	13		17	-4	16		25	-1	15		18		13		174	17.4
3	High Voltage	BE	7	-2	7	-4	17	-1	7		12	-2	9		18		10		9	-2	9		105	10.5

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High Voltage at the Belgian Nationals 2021

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The earlier High Voltage update included the team's competition for the Belgian delegation at the ESL Championship 2019. The 2019 lineup posted A Class scores at three different events during their first year in the next category.

It was not only coincidence that High Voltage met the Cheetahs and the Lions from Qatar already at the ESL Championship. Qatar coach Luc Verstrepen lives in Belgium, and the event was hosted by the skydiving center in Spa, which was NMP PCH HayaBusa's home when he was still a team member.

He had scheduled the ESL Championship 2019 for the Qatar delegation as a great opportunity to collect competition experiences, and there was neither much traveling to do for the Belgian teams. The same three teams (Cheetahs, Lions, High Voltage) posted their scores on the A Class leaderboard, and the eligibility situation was the same as earlier this month.

Only High Voltage could both collect ESL points for the Belgian delegation, as they did with their 3rd place in the ESL rankings of 2019, and win Belgian national championship medals this year.

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ESL Championship 2019				1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Avg
Rank	A Class			F,E,A	J,4	M,8	2,9	Q,6	21,N	L,P,7	19,O	Total	Avg
1	Lions	QA	n/a	13	7	11	7	11	9	11	10	79	9.9
2	Falcons	QA	n/a	18	9	11	8	9	9	8	6	78	9.8
3	Cheetas	QA	n/a	17	7	7	9	8	8	11	10	77	9.6
4	High Five	CZ	10	13	6	11	7	9	8	12	10	76	9.5
5	British Army Volt4ge	UK	8	19	9	7	7	7	7	9	6	71	8.9
6	High Voltage	BE	6	12	10	8	9	8	8	8	6	69	8.6
6	Funky Falcon	NL	6	12	7	11	8	8	7	8	8	69	8.6
8	Huayra	BE	4	12	8	8	7	8	7	6	9	65	8.1
9	Black Devils	BE	3	11	7	4	7	6	3	7	8	53	6.6
10	Oljakoda	BE	2	9	4	5	3	6	5	5	6	43	5.4

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Qatar Cheetahs and Lions at the Belgian Nationals 2021

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The coincidence of the next meeting between Cheetas, Lions and High Voltage also had a similar reason as in 2019. Luc Verstrepen is still coaching the Cheetahs, and he still lives in Belgium. This year, he even added the German Outdoor Nationals to his team's schedule, while his coaching colleague Marin Ferre took the Lions to the French Outdoor Nationals.

There was also twice as much Voltage at the ESL Championship 2019, one charged by the Belgian team, the other one by British Army Volt4ge for the UK delegation in Spa. It turned out to be an electric 2-point battle over all eight rounds that the British team won. The eight ESL points for the British Volt4ge became an important contribution for the UK delegation who won the ESL Spirit that year. Belgium finished in 2nd place.

The British Army Volt4ge stepped up into AA Class competition together with the Belgian High Voltage at the end of the 2019 season, and both teams are now their countries' national champions in this category. British Army Volt4ge won in August with a 10.1 average after eight rounds, High Voltage this month with 10.5 after ten rounds. Unfortunately, there will be no new electric battle this year, as the ESL Championship had to be canceled due to difficult travel restrictions in Europe.

British Army Volt4ge and Belgian High Voltage were still close to the Qatar teams in 2019, who have also stepped up into AA Class competition in the meantime. However, their professional training and environment has been showing serious results, and they are now far ahead of any AA Class opponents.