posted Jul 9th, 2005 - The 8-way competition was completed Wednesday night, and the scores and meet videos were posted shortly after the conclusion of the competition. France and Arizona Airspeed could not have made it any more exciting for the 8-way fans on site and on the internet. Round ten was like a jump-off between these two teams. How did it get to that situation?

The 8-way race between France and Airspeed was a 1-point affair from the beginning to the end. None of the two best 8-way teams in the world was able to steal more than one point in any round except the second one. Both teams had three highscores each and tied their scores in four rounds. Since each winning round but one was a 1-pointer, round two gave France the edge after winning it by two points.

It was not very far away from a real jump-off. The teams were tied after round nine, and both teams completed 18 points within working time in round ten. Airspeed had an infringement, lost one point, and the first place and $11,000 went to France.

The French 8-way team lost only one point due to infringements throughout the 10-round meet, while Airspeed gave away three points. In other words, Airspeed completed more points then France within working time throughout the whole competition and lost the first place to a cleaner French team.

Both teams did extremely well compared to the 8-way competition at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving in Croatia 2004. France came to the Malevsky Cup 2005 with the same line-up and improved the team's meet average from 18.8 to 19.9 this week.

Airspeed had won the world meet with a 19.1 average and then filled two open slots with Andy Delk and Brian Johnson. The new line-up finished the 10-round meet this week with a 19.8 average after the ten rounds. The NSL News had the chance to speak with Airspeed veteran Kirk Verner after the meet.

NSL News: Kirk, Your team mate Craig Girard commented after landing from round ten that "... everything was left on the table, we did everything we could do..." Did You feel the same way?

Kirk Verner: I did feel the same way. 18.3 was our highest training average with this line-up before the Malevsky Cup. The meet magic pulled it out for us here.

NSL News: You had an exhausting day on Thursday. How many competition rounds did You do, how many hours did You spend at the drop zone? Have You ever made that many meet jumps on the same day?

Kirk Verner: We did a total of eight jumps, three 4-ways, five 8-ways, and we spent 14 hours on the drop zone. It was the highest number of meet jumps any of us has ever done. It was the hardest competition day ever for me. All jumps were so intense. I was so tired, and I really had to monitor my arousal level. It was a very fatiguing day.

NSL News: Was it still fun?

Kirk Verner: Oh yeah, it was fantastic. When you get down, and you got the good adrenaline flow, then you know again why you did it.

NSL News: How did the meet go for Airspeed in 8-way, and how was the competition?

Kirk Verner: We pulled up by 1.5 average compared to our training meets. Our team was not the same as in Croatia with two new guys. Brian was not so familiar with the 8-way dive pool. We were building it back up in January. Brian and Andy performed fantastic. France looked great, their block techniques were fantastic, clean and easy to judge. They will be a problem for us. I missed the Russians on the screen. They were moving fast, but they got busted quite a bit. However, they are fast, they will be polished this year and will be back in 2006. They have a lot of young and hungry guys. 2006 will be anybody's meet. If we do only one event next year, we will not dilute ourselves that much in training.

NSL News: What to expect in 8-way at the World Cup this year?

Kirk Verner: The Russians and the French team will come to the World Cup in Eloy, it will be a repeat meet. The French look stronger than anybody, but us being so close will make them train even harder.

NSL News: What will Airspeed do between here and the USPA Championship 2005 and the World Cup?

Kirk Verner: We will focus slightly higher on 4-way and use the big new tunnel in Eloy. I expect 30 - 40 hours of tunnel time to polish the 4-way, then hit the 8-way harder in August. There will be high focus on 4-way. We will try to win both events at the nationals and then focus on 8-way for the World Cup, I would guess.

NSL News: How was it in 4-way?

Kirk Verner: It was fantastic. Both teams were evenly matched all year, both performed very well. DeLand Fire looks very good, they are the team to beat. Fastrax is great, I am impressed. We have to get it going and keep focused. 4-way seems to be more important a this point with the tough competition.

NSL News: Airspeed brings home $16,000. Does that feel good?

Kirk Verner: Feels great, it's a new feeling. This is all four yourself. Airspeed has a tough budget with a lot of training, much money to spend. This helps, it puts reality on the sport to have prize money, really cool. Media attention comes with the money.

NSL News: This was Your first visit at the Malevsky, Kirk. How did You like the event in general?

Kirk Verner: The weather finally held out after a bad forecast. The meet was run really, really well. There were more disciplines, they seem to branch out further. They took care of everybody out at the drop zone. The hotel was great, Moscow was great, I liked the Russian Circus.

NSL News: Thanks for the interview, Kirk, and good luck for the remainder of the season.