posted May 20th, 2004 - Two more meet stories complete the coverage of last weekend's international competition. The Carolina Skydiving League posted the whole meet report already shortly after the conclusion of the event at Blue Sky Adventures. The Florida Skydiving League needed a little bit longer for the update. New NSL-TV and the reults of the NSL SkyVenture Competition will be next. Here is the FSL story.The Florida Skydiving League came back to Skydive DeLand on May 15th for the third FSL meet of the 2004 season. The DeLand meet was part of the busiest competition weekend this year. Several other leagues in the USA and Europe had scheduled meets for the same weekend and applied the same competition draw. The jump sequences were provided by the Dutch Handicap Cup in the Netherlands, and it surely was a draw on the faster side.

Eight teams showed up at Skydive DeLand Saturday morning. Unfortunately, A Class team FSC JAMMM had to withdraw when the team from Lake Wales could not fill an open slot that happened on a very short notice. FSC JAMMM and FSL management tried to find an adequate replacement without success. The Lake Wales team had attended each FSL meet this year and was unhappy for not being able to compete in DeLand. The FSL management appreciated the team's efforts in the difficult situation and looks forward to FSC JAMMM's next appearance at the June meet in Zephyrhills.

The small field of teams still had to offer most exciting 4-way competition. The NSL News already covered DeLand Majik's record performance with the 25.5 meet average, including the 41-pointer in round two. The AAA Class in DeLand still had more interesting stories. Another national 4-way team used the opportunity to get competition practice that weekend. Kewara with Cristina Angelucci (Point), Simonetta Bardi (Center Outside), Eva Tusset (Center Inside), Alessandra D'Annibale (Tail) and Lara Bandoni (Video) will represent Italy in the female 4-way category this year at the World Championship of Formation Skydiving. Kewara will also travel to Russia at the end of July and compete a the IPC Anton Malevsky Memorial World Cup 2004.

Kewara finished a two-week training camp at Skydive DeLand with this competition. The NSL News introduced the team's scoring history earlier in an article covering the Malevsky World Cup and was hoping to get fresh scores after the DeLand meet. The NSL News expected Kewara's scoring level at approximately the same level where last year's world champion, UK's team V-Max, performed at the Mondial 2003 (16.5 average). Kewara finished the six-round meet in DeLand with a 16.8 meet average and seems to be on the way to become a serious medal contender this year. The Italian team will meet V-Max in Russia for another serious test.

Down to Earth is a new team and competed for the first time in the 2004 season. The team consists of two 4 Something members (Michelle Carlstrom, Center Inside, and Elisa Behnk, Tail), an all- female team that trained with a different line-up throughout the 2003 season and competed with Swiss player coach Nina Kuebler at the USPA Nationals 2003. Ari Perelman (Point) joined Down to Earth for the 2004 season, and former Chikara member Kristina Byrne (Center Outside) guides the team this year. Sarah Brownlee was shooting the team's video in DeLand. Down to Earth posted very respectable scores in several rounds and finished the meet with an 11.4 average.

Sebastian Teiwaz competed once again with a new line-up in DeLand. Teiwaz senior members Ron Hill and Kurt Gaebel were joined by former TBD member Bob Byrne (Center Outside) and Barbara Kobzik (Center Inside) who attended the first 4-way competition in her skydiving career. Teiwaz' 13.6 meet average shows that Kobzik was still well prepared for her first serious test.She had received professional instructions and training at several different camps before the meet and had also spent precious time in Orlando's SkyVenture wind tunnel. Kobzik and Byrne are now both trying to form a team that trains and wants to get on a higher performance level.Hill and Gaebel used the opportunity of the new line-up to practice different slots than their usual ones. Hill had been in the tail position for Sebastian Teiwaz ever since he began competing with the team. He had expressed his desire to fly other slots for the fun of it already earlier this season. He ended up as the Teiwaz point in DeLand. Gaebel filled the remaining tail slot. Both enjoyed the opportunity to see the formations from a different angle. Rickster Powell filmed the team. Teiwaz ended up with a 13.6 meet average after five completed rounds.

Windline Lightning from Lake Wales was the remaining team in the AAA Class field and had to change the line-up, as well. Anabel Durham filled the tail slot at the DeLand meet that Bruce Robertson had jumped at the April meet at the Florida Skydiving Center. Tiffany Short (Center Inside), Billy Bradshaw (Center Outside), Mike Mathes (Point) and Kent Lang (Video) made their second appearance in the AAA Class this year. Windline Lightning had won the gold medal at the USPA Nationals 2003 in the AA Class and stepped up into the AAA Class for the new season. As Sebastian Teiwaz, the Lake Wales team keeps competing with different line-ups to continue enjoying the FSL fun.

Zero Tolerance from Skydive Miami in Homestead visited from the far south of Florida and competed in the A Class. Guido Marti (Center Inside) was already with Zero Tolerance in 2001 and 2002, then competed with FLair thoughout the 2003 season when Zero Tolerance took a break.Point Robert Stoky competed together with Marti and Zero Tolerance throughout the FSL 2001 season and now came back for the 2004 season. Two new members completed the line-up in DeLand, Lance Smith (Center Outside) and Gary Hensen (Tail). Fred Coleman was filming the team.Zero Tolerance was looking forward to the direct competition with FSC JAMMM. When the Lake Wales had to withdraw, the Homestead team had to compete with only one other A Class team on site. Pickup4 was scrambled together in the morning of the meet day and a result of FSL efforts to include more recreational skydivers and former or inactive competitors. Pickup4 consisted of Tim Webb (Point), Paul Bertorelli (Center Outside), Bob Domeier (Center Inside) and Anneli Dalstroem (Tail). The team did not really know which class to sign up for and finally chose the A Class.

Tim Webb is an experienced local skydiver who had attended one FSL 4-way meet in 1998 prior to the recent DeLand meet. Paul Bertorelli trained and competed with Z-Quest from Skydive City in the AA Class throughout the 2003 season. Bob Domeier is also an experienced skydiver and has trained and competed with team Flashpoint from Michigan in past years. Anneli Dalstroem is from Sweden and spent her extended winter vacation in Florida. She had not attended a 4-way meet prior to the FSL competition in DeLand. After the first successful rounds of the meet Pickup4 realized that they might have been able to handle the AA Class dive pool well enough. However, the decision was made, and the team enjoyed an excellent performance and loads of fun. The FSL management hopes to attract more and similar line-ups to the FSL meets with Sebastian Teiwaz, Windline Lightning, Zero Tolerance and Pickup4 as great examples for a more casual approach to 4-way competition.

Weather interrupted the meet in the late afternoon. Several teams did not think that there was a chance to complete round six and packed up. However, the skies cleared early enough for the teams that were still on site and wanted to do round six. Majik, Kewara and Pickup4 used the opportunity to post more great scores. The event was concluded when DeLand Majik and Kewara were called to the stage for team pictures and applause by the crowd. Participants and visitors then mingled to welcome the local No Harm Done Band that took the stage for their second concert at Skydive DeLand. The FSL moves to Skydive City in Zephyrhills next. The meet is scheduled for June 12.