posted Sep 17th, 2023 - The series of aftermath events behind the 23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving also included the British Outdoor Nationals 2023, which were held on the weekend when the German Outdoor Nationals 2023 were concluded at the Fallschirmsportzentrum Saar..

Team Apex won the 4-way AAA Class title this month, after the British 4-way champion team of 2022, Chimera, had decided to discontinue after the 5th place at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2022, as the NSL News reported on January 24th. The door to the national championship title and the qualification for the next outdoor world championship was open for another team, and Apex took it.

NFTO had won the British AAA Class championship in 2018, 2019 and 2021 and represented Great Britain in 4-way Women at the world championships and world cups, where Chimera competed in 4-way Open. Apex had finished in 2nd place behind Chimera last year, when NFTO did not attend the national championship. Apex attended only indoor events in 2022 and added two average points to the outdoor scoring level (14.9 - 16.9) which won this year's AAA Class championship title. The new NFTO lineup placed 3rd behind Apex and a new British 4-way team, Viserion, after the 5th place in 4-way Women at the 23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving.

British Outdoor Nationals 2023		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	F,22,P,J	10,B,12	8,16,D	O,Q,7,18	A,21,15	1,6,13	M,19,17	20,H,L,E	C,14,2	11,G,4	Total	Avg
1	Apex	21	17	16	18	14	15	19	19	17	13	169	16.9
2	Viserion	18	15	13	16	13	15	17	18	14	12	151	15.1
3	NFTO	17	11	13	14	10	13	16	16	11	11	132	13.2
4	Jafeika	11	8	7	11	10	10	9	10	9	9	94	9.4
5	British Army Volt4ge	13	8	7	11	9	9	11	8	8	7	91	9.1
6	All Up Front	16	14	12	14	14	12	0	0	0	0	82	8.2
7	Vantage	11	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13	1.3

It was an unusual situation for NFTO at Skydive Voss in Norway when the team did not take a place on the podium, neither at the world cup event in 4-way Women, nor on the European leaderboard. Vana Parker and Sian Stokes have been team mates since 2018, and they won FAI silver medals together in Australia 2018.

Vana Parker and original member Anna Hicks had already won their first world championship medals at Skydive Chicago in 2016, together with Maria Russell, Ane Brentford and Simon Brentford on camera. Six years later, they had arrived on the top spot of the 4-way Women podium in Eloy, this time together with Sian Stokes and Catherine Anderson, Simon Brentford still on camera.

NFTO had turned bronze in 2016 into silver in 2018 and finally into gold in Eloy 2022, and original member Anna Hicks decided to step back after another indoor bronze medal at the FAI Indoor World Championship 2023. Only Vana Parker and Sian Stokes continued, as the NSL News reported on June 17th. It was a big and courageous move for Vana Parker and Sian Stokes who selected Lucy Davies and Danni Hurt for the new lineup. They knew that they would not be competing for FAI gold or silver medals, possibly not even for a place on the podium at all at the next award ceremonies.

23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		3,G,N,19		11,17,L		13,7,C		2,D,O,8		14,K,J,12		9,M,P,H		5,4,18		15,1,10		16,21,E		F,20,6		Total	Avg
1	XPG4	US	21		20		20	-1	19		17		38		16	-1	16	-1	18	-2	18	-1	203	20.3
2	France 4-way Women	FR	17		15	-1	20		17		15		33		14		14	-1	14	-2	18		177	17.7
3	Meltemi Oceanside	DE	12	-2	15		16		16		11		25	-1	12		12		15		16		150	15.0
4	Thyra	NO	11	-1	12		14		13		11		21		10		12		12		14		130	13.0
5	NFTO	UK	11	-2	11		12	-1	12	-1	11		25		10		10		12	-2	13	-1	127	12.7
6	SNE Fly Girls	US	13		11		15		11	-1	10		21	-1	11		11		9	-2	11	-1	123	12.3
7	Alola	UK	11		12		13	-1	12	-1	10		20	-4	11		10	-1	11	-1	11	-1	121	12.1

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NFTO - Alola at the 23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving - Video footage courtesy of InTime/FAI/ISC

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It turned out to be just like that in Norway, where NFTO ended up in 5th place of the world cup competition in 4-way Women and in 4th place behind the young Norwegian home team Thyra on the European leaderboard. In fact, NFTO's new lineup was challenged by the second British 4-way team in 4-way Women, Alola, who represented the country officially as the national team at this event.

Alola qualified as the national team at last year's national outdoor championship that NFTO did not attend. Alola were not back earlier this month at Skydive Hibaldstow, while NFTO competed with the new lineup and placed 3rd. It became the first time for new members Lucy Davies and Danni Hurt on the British AAA Class podium.

NFTO had already shown in Norway that they were ready to enjoy the competition as an international experience for the new lineup. The team members were proudly presenting the Fun Flag in their possession that team videographer Simon Brentford had successfully captured from the climbing rock in the center of the facilities, with Vana Parker's support. There is no doubt that Vana Parker and Sian Stokes plan to bring NFTO back to the FAI medal level, and the next opportunity is the outdoor world championship in Israel.

British Outdoor Nationals 2023		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class	F,22,P	J,B,8	D,O,Q,7	18,A,21	15,1	6,13	M,19,20	H,L,E,C	Total	Avg
1	Brits on Grits	12	15	14	11	7	11	9	15	94	11.8
2	Nemesis	9	11	13	10	5	9	10	16	83	10.4
3	Axis	10	11	10	7	6	9	9	16	78	9.8
4	Sora	9	11	11	9	5	9	7	14	75	9.4
5	Chillies	9	10	10	7	6	8	7	13	70	8.8
6	Ice Bank Mice Elf	6	7	9	6	2	6	5	12	53	6.6
7	Quattro Formaggi	7	7	6	6	4	4	6	10	50	6.3
8	Lend Chill Chaos	3	5	9	5	4	6	5	10	47	5.9
Rank	A Class	F,P,J	B,8	D,O,Q	7,A	21,6	M,19	H,L,E	C,2	Total	Avg
1	Children of the Corn	22	10	14	11	4	11	11	9	92	11.5
2	Wavey Wackers	16	8	8	8	7	7	12	7	73	9.1
3	Where's Jono?!	14	7	7	8	7	8	6	7	64	8.0
4	Black Phoenix	6	3	7	8	3	7	8	7	49	6.1
5	Royal Artillery The Gunners	10	3	4	7	6	5	6	6	47	5.9
6	Tilstock	4	5	2	7	3	4	6	2	33	4.1
7	STD's	3	2	2	4	3	5	4	2	25	3.1
8	RAF Hurricane	1	2	4	3	2	4	1	3	20	2.5
Rank	Rookie	F,P,J	B,D,O	Q,A,M	H,L,E	C,G,K	N,C,A	L,K,D	B,E,M	Total	Avg
1	Kaleidoscope	17	13	13	11	10	10	12	21	107	13.4
2	Cloud 9	11	15	13	13	8	12	8	24	104	13.0
3	Bootie Call	8	11	8	10	7	8	4	11	67	8.4
4	Fourtunate	5	5	4	4	2	4	3	8	35	4.4
5	The University of 4ORK	4	6	1	5	2	4	3	7	32	4.0
6	One Point Wonders	2	3	1	4	2	3	2	5	22	2.8
7	Portent	6	3	3	0	0	2	2	0	16	2.0
7	Genesis	3	4	2	2	2	1	2	0	16	2.0
9	Fall Fast Finish Last	1	1	4	0	1	1	0	5	13	1.6