posted Jul 1st, 2010 - The NSL News reported the exciting race for the slot as Sweden's national 4-way team at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2010 with the story on 7 June 2010.

Team Bardagi won after a dramatic showdown in Round 10 and is now preparing for the trip to Menzelinsk in Russia. Blue Spirits' player coach Joey Jones told the NSL News shortly after the meet how he felt about this exciting race:

"Bardagi looked great and skydived consistently throughout the meet. You could tell that they have been working hard and had just finished a 50-jump camp. They looked confident, trained and ready for the challenge. I am sure they will continue to train hard this summer and I look forward to our next meeting."

Joey Jones then continued with his own team, which is far from being done after missing the qualification for the World Meet:

"Concerning Blue Spirits Reloaded, we simply got beat. We were not ready or prepared to compete in any way. Our training plan is focused on peaking at the Swedish Nationals. We had not jumped in two months and had only 82 jumps total. I assure you that Blue Spirits Reloaded will be in top form and ready to compete come Swedish Nationals. We have two more tunnel camps and three more jumping camps scheduled."

The Swedish Nationals 2010 are scheduled for the week leading into the August 21 weekend. Bardagi will be back from Russia then and has another challenge waiting at home. In the meantime, the NSL News received additional information of the Swedish national 4-way team for the World Meet.

Jun5th, 2010		Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Round7	Round8	Round9	Round10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAAClass	9,10,G	16,5,D	13,6,21	N,L,A,19	E,K,P,3	18,15,14	22,8,17	2,7,M	O,Q,11,20	B,F,J,H,12	Total	Avg
1	Bardagi	15	16	15	18	15	11	12	16	15	22	155	15.5
2	Blue Spirits	13	15	14	16	17	11	12	16	17	18	149	14.9

The Road to Russia

Bardagi started out in November 2009. Mikael Kaulanen and Rickard Rodensjö of the previous Swedish national team Evolution joined forces with former Top Gun members Seth Ericsson and Johan Karlsson.

The new team used the creepers a lot in the winter and trained at Bodyflight Bedford. Gary Smith was Bardagi's indoor coach, and he began his work with the team by building up a solid foundation of individual flying skills and block teckniques.

Bardagi continued with Gary Smith's former Equanimity and DeLand Majik team mate Solly Williams as the coach in April when the team trained for nine days in DeLand.

A third coach added information during the team's last training week at the 5-day Swedish Basic Camp in Gryttjom where Marco Arrigo worked with Bardagi. This camp was scheduled a week before the important competition.

Team member Mikael Kaulanen reported that his team did not feel completely ready for the competition. However, coach Marco Arrigo helped out with a few additional details and suggestions, as Bardagi wanted to have as much consistency as possible while preparing for the upcoming competition.

The Swedish Cup meet was the first competition for this lineup, and the team members didn't really know what to expect. Former Top Gun members Seth Ericsson and Johan Karlsson had performed at a 12-average level before and had to step up.

Mikael Kaulanen said that it was a very exciting competition with Blue Spirits pushing all the way and getting even closer in the last few rounds. He remembered the exciting situation at the end of the meet:

"We kept our cool and knew we couldn't do anything else than just perform the fast last jump (F-E-J-H-12) as good and clean as possible. We didn't change anything in our plan and tried not to rush to the points. It turned out to be a very good decision, and by being consistent on that jump, we won the round by four points."

Bardagi allowed Blue Spirits to get closer when the team lost three points in Round 5, due to the camera angle after the exit. Mikael Kaulanen had more details of this situation: "It was bad luck with a combination of sun reflection, the team exiting a bit flat and Niklas with the camera being a bit early."

The Bardagi members feel that the 15.5 average is only a nice start for the new team at the first competition. They all feel that Bardagi has great potential if the team continues. Winning against Blue Spirits also helped to build confidence.

The new Swedish national 4-way team is now going to Russia. However, main team goal for this season is still the Swedish Nationals 2010 where Bardagi wants to peak. The national championship is scheduled one week after the World Meet.

Bardagi will have a few training days in Gryttjom before both coming events. Mikael Kaulanen finished by introducing the daily life of the team members: "I guess we'll all find out exactly what a fireman, a computer expert, an electrician and a stunt performer have to offer the skydiving community in the near future..."

By the way: "Bardagi" is an ancient nordic word and stands for battle, clash, fight...