posted Jan 27th, 2025 - Not much time is left until the decision will be made whether the current 4-way dive pool will be changed or not, as the NSL News reported on January 20th. The ISC Formation Skydiving Committee meetings at the 75th Plenary Meeting in Rome (Italy) will begin tomorrow, on January 28th, and conclude on February 2nd.

The NSL News has tried to collect as much information as possible of the topic and provide views from different perspectives. Most of the feedback and insights came from the most experienced 4-way and 8-way competitors and coaches in the world, while the changes have an impact on all participants in formation skydiving competition.

There is great interest in the topic, as the traffic numbers of the NSL News audience are showing, and the discussion will continue until the final decision will be made. The NSL News concludes the preview coverage of this specific topic with the thoughts that were provided by a competitor who has been a part of the 95% of recreational competitors for decades. Ben Liston from New England had the talent and potential to transition into the area of teams with full-time training and competition, after his own team, Mass Defiance, won the AAA/Advanced Class competition at the USPA Nationals 2005, and he decided to continue as a recreational amateur in the sport.

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NSL Live Talk with Ben Liston on 26 January 2025

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One of his team mates was Jim Rees, who made the same decision. He took a different turn than Ben Liston though, who continued as a recreational competitor and a hobby coach. Jim Rees is now one of the most experienced judges in the world and an expert of all rules and regulations in national and international formation skydiving competition and other skydiving events.

Jim Rees is in Rome at the moment and will provide his vast wealth of knowledge and experiences to help the ISC Formation Skydiving Committee and come to the best conclusion. Jim Rees did not continue with 4-way competition after his four years with Mass Defiance, while the same time period was almost just the beginning for Ben Liston.

Almost 20 years later they both still play significant roles in formation skydiving competition, Ben Liston as a 4-way and 8-way competitor, hobby coach and event manager, Jim Rees as judge and delegate to the most relevant positions in the world’s management of the sport. Mass Defiance won the AAA/Advanced Class gold medals at the USPA Nationals 2005 with a 15.4 average, which turned out to be the starting point for Ben Liston's pursuit of the highest amateur level in the world, the challenging 20-average benchmark. The original lineup of 2004, with Ben Liston and Jim Rees (John Silva, Brian Stephens), made it up to 19.3 in 2007, with Steve "Scuba" Feldman on camera.

USPA Nationals 2005		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Advanced	2,A,19	F,20,D,9	C,21,N,11	15,M,8	4,6,P	5,1,H	22,7,12	3,K,16	E,17,14	13,18,J	Total	Avg
1	Mass Defiance	19	19	16	15	15	15	12	14	15	14	154	15.4
2	Elsinore Gravity	16	20	11	13	15	15	12	13	14	13	142	14.2
3	Perris Katalyst	14	16	14	14	12	13	9	13	11	12	128	12.8
4	Elsinore GT	13	16	11	13	13	13	9	12	13	10	123	12.3
5	Inviscid	14	15	12	13	10	14	10	9	12	13	122	12.2
6	Y-Train	10	16	8	11	12	12	12	13	13	12	119	11.9
6	Perris Storm	15	15	11	11	10	13	10	12	11	11	119	11.9
8	Cross Keys Vision	13	15	11	11	13	8	10	11	10	10	112	11.2
9	Golden Knights SA	13	14	9	10	10	10	10	10	7	9	102	10.2
10	Perris CNC	13	14	10	10	10	7	8	9	12	7	100	10.0
10	AZ Seals TNT	12	12	9	11	10	8	8	10	11	9	100	10.0
12	Weekend of Fun	11	10	10	9	10	11	8	10	11	8	98	9.8
13	PERris HELION	11	13	10	11	10	10	7	6	10	9	97	9.7
14	Perris Ice	11	8	10	11	9	9	9	9	11	8	95	9.5
15	LMP	11	14	8	11	11	11	11	11	0	0	88	8.8
16	Perris Censored	9	11	7	9	8	8	8	8	7	8	83	8.3
17	Spaceland's Method	10	12	8	7	8	7	6	7	9	5	79	7.9
17	Perris K II	10	7	9	8	8	6	6	9	9	7	79	7.9
19	Mass Confusion	6	6	6	0	5	0	5	4	5	6	43	4.3

Mass Defiance between 2004 and 2019

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The 19.3 average at the USPA Nationals 2007 was still not the 20-average level that Ben Liston still sees as the amateur benchmark. The best amateur teams in the world are trying year by year to get to this level, at world cups and world championships.

Ben Liston is one of the few recreational competitors who eventually made it slightly beyond the magic 20-average scoring number at national championships, due to his unlimited passion and persistence. He and his original team mate Brian Stephens joined forces with Steve Johnson and James "Bu" Klinge in 2011 and eventually posted a 20.7 average at the USPA Nationals 2012.

They repeated the accomplishment with a 20.9 average five years later at the USPA Nationals 2017, this time with Nick Grillet for Steve Johnson, and with Patrick Walker on camera. The same lineup posted another 20+ average a year later and ended up three points behind the USPA bronze medals and the Airspeed Odyssey reunion (206 - 203). The same lineup of 2018 finally won their much earned and deserved USPA medal in 4-way Open at Paraclete XP 2019, where it was still overshadowed by the impressive NMP PCH HayaBusa performance and the dramatic jump-off finish between SDC Rhythm XP and Arizona Airspeed. Ben Liston and Jim Rees both have obviously important experiences and thoughts to share with the FAI/ISC lawmakers in Italy.

USPA Nationals 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open Class		7,C,H,P		J,21,20		O,3,11		B,2,K,E		8,Q,10		15,D,F,12		N,L,M,14		6,1,9		A,18,13		G,4,5		17,16,22		Total	Avg
G	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	45	-1	24		27		37		21		25		34		25	-1	26	-1	25	-4	-		289	28.9
1	SDC Rhythm XP	US	41		22		21	-1	33		21		23		27		25		24		25		21	-1	262	26.2
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	40	-1	24		22	-2	32		19	-2	24		29		25		21	-2	26	-1	20	-2	262	26.2
3	Defiance	US	30	-1	21		15	-4	28		16		19		22	-3	21		18	-1	18	-1	-		208	20.8
4	Ranch 2nd Generation	US	26		19		19		24	-2	16	-1	17	-1	24		18	-1	19		19		-		201	20.1
G	Kinetix	AU	26		18		17		22		13	-1	17		18	-1	17		17		17		-		182	18.2
5	Lite XP	US	24	-1	17		17		22		15		17		20	-2	16	-1	14		17		-		179	17.9
6	No Name	US	22	-4	17		14		19	-2	12	-2	13		14	-3	15		14		16		-		156	15.6
7	Aviatrixx	US	21		14		13	-1	18	-1	12	-2	15		17	-1	14	-1	12		14		-		150	15.0
9	Perris Force	US	20		13	-1	14		18		11	-1	11		18	-1	13	-1	12		12	-1	-		142	14.2

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Ben Liston with Defiance at the USPA Nationals 2019

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