posted Aug 15th, 2007 - The next busy meet weekend is coming up. There will be ten 4-way competitions at ten different locations, including the national championships of the Netherlands, Sweden and Great Britain.

The NSL News mentioned in previous stories that the UK Nationals 2007 will include one of the most exciting races for the national championship of the whole 2007 season. The two British all-female line-ups of Team Storm and Team Elan are ready to compete for the British Open Class slot at next year's World Championship of Formation Skydiving in France.

Both teams together include all four reigning world champions in IPC's female category of the 4-way event, Claire Scott (Storm), Emma Beyer, Julia Foxwell and Amanda Kemp (Elan). They won the gold medals in the female event at last year's World Championship of Formation Skydiving in Germany with a 19.0 average after five rounds.

The NSL News broke the news that Airkix had split up with the first story on January 4. Claire "Sparky" Scott had joined a new all-female line-up, Team Storm.

The NSL News explained five days later, with the story on January 9, that Team Elan had already re-grouped with a new member, Tarnya Hollis.

From then on, the NSL News followed up with several articles and updates on both teams' progression. The four former Airkix members had lifted up the performance level of female 4-way competition to new heights in 2006. The split-up did not give the Airkix line-up the opportunity to move up all the way to the performance and scoring level of the Open Class competition with line-ups of all-male and mixed genders. However, two new and very strong all-female line-ups created a unique situation in Great Britain this year.

Team Elan and Team Storm both are the top contenders for the British open 4-way championship of 2007, which is scheduled for the upcoming weekend. Only a reunion of Team XL could probably stop both teams from taking the first two positions at the top of the British leaderboard, and there are no rumors of any possible XL reunion.

It seems to be impossible to say which team has the better chances. Team Elan's line-up includes three reigning world champions who have already posted a 19.0 average. This sounds promising. Elan competed at the World Challenge 2007 at Bodyflight Bedford in April this year and posted a 20.3 average after the ten rounds of the windtunnel competition. Then the team attended the July meet of the British 4-way Grand Prix event series and finished with a 16.3 average after six rounds.

Team Storm has only one former Airkix member, Claire "Sparky" Scott, with Hannah Betts (Center Inside), Sarah Smith (Point) and Kate Stephens (Tail) by her side. Storm attended two meets of the California Skydiving League, the June meet in Perris (17.8) and the July meet in Elsinore (19.0) and posted quite impressive scores.

The coaching situation was the main factor that Team Storm was in California when the SCSL meets took place. Claire Scott managed to hire Dan BC as the team coach before Team Elan could continue to work with one of the most experienced coaches of all-female line-ups.

Dan BC's coaching and Claire Scott's experiences have been crucial for the new line-up. Hannah Betts, Sarah Smith and Kate Stephens are new to the AAA Class dive pool. They competed with Bodyflight Storm in the AA Class throughout the 2006 season (11.2 - 12.8 - 13.3) and dominated this class in Great Britain last year.

Dan BC guided Synchronicity to the gold medals in the female category at the World Meet in Croatia 2004. Then he worked with Airkix and won the gold medals once again at the World Meet in Germany 2006. His experience will surely be an advantage for Team Storm, and Dan BC is already in Great Britain to prepare the team for the biggest challenge of the 2007 season.

Team Elan is not alone, as well. Emma Beyer's husband, former Airspeed 8-way world champion and current player coach for Arizone Directe, Gary Beyer, has worked with Team Elan this year. Airspeed Odyssey member Mark Kirkby has also provided his input for the team.

Both teams knew what it will take to win this year's all-female showdown in Great Britain, and both teams did the best to be well prepared. It will be time to put new and the most important scores of the year on the leaderboard. The NSL News will post the scores as soon as possible.

The pressure to win this weekend is obviously very high for both teams. However, Team Elan and Team Storm both may have more than only one option after the UK Nationals 2007. There is only one slot as the official British national 4-way team. However, there are two events that offer participation at the FAI/IPC events for each country.

The team that finishes in 1st place this weekend will be the official British 4-way champion in the Open Class. It would be no news that an all-female line-up wins the Open Class competition at the UK Nationals, as Airkix did this already in 2006. However, Airkix was already selected to compete in FAI's female category at the World Meet 2006 in Germany. The British Army team was the national team in the Open Class after Team Spank won the Open Class in 2005 and decided not to go to Germany.

The British Parachute Association (BPA) may even ask this year's winning team to represent the country in the Open Class and not give either of the two female teams a choice. Logically, the team in second place would then be the British national team in FAI's female category next year in France. It could be the other way around, too, if defending the gold medals in the female category is more important in and for Great Britain. First of all, the national championship is coming up this weekend, and the competition will surely be exciting.