Recap: 4TH FAI WORLD SPEED SKYDIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The 4^th FAI World Speed Skydiving Championships were held at Skydive Arizona in Eloy Arizona, USA on October 21^st – 24^th. A total of 32 competitors from nine countries attended. At the world level Speed Skydiving has four categories: Open, Female, Male, and National Team. Many of the competitors set new personal bests, which resulted in 34 records currently being reviewed and ratified.

Open & Male

Marco Hepp from Germany maintained a decisive lead throughout the entire competition, posting numbers no one had seen before or anticipated. Becoming the first person to break the 520km/h barrier and doing so in all 8 rounds. He raised the bar of the sport by set a new General World Record at 529.77km/h and averaging 527.19 km/h.

What a nail-biter!

A fierce fight for the two remaining podium slots. Second through six place saw dramatic changes as the competition unfolded. AXIS Flight School’s Niklas Daniel started out in 6^th place and fought his way up to 2^nd by the last round. With a total of 4089.74km/h (2541.25 mph), averaging 511.22km/h (317.66 mph) Nik’s new personal best of 520.87km/h (323.65 mph) earned him three records: North American, National, and Arizona State records. In addition, he is only the second person after Marco Hepp to break the 520km/h barrier in competition.

Nik’s round 8 with a top speed of 527.32km/h.

Male and Open Speed Skydiving podium winners from left to right: Niklas Daniel 2nd, Marco Hepp 1st, and Kyle Lobpries 3rd. Photo by Jochen Althoff.

Noteworthy accomplishments

A tremendous accomplishment by Jimmy McCarthy from Great Britain for being the third person in the world in breaking 500km/h in 8 consecutive rounds. Also, a new Junior Record (24 years of age or younger) was set by Massimo Caramel from Italy, reaching a speed of 508.08km/h. Congratulations Jimmy and Massimo!

Female

There was a total of four female speeders: Last year’s World Champion Maxine Tate (USA), Natisha Dingle (AUS), Ingrid van Deelen (NED), and Susana Leal (SWE). The standings throughout the meet remained mostly solid. Natisha took first with a total of 3825.44km/h and a new Female World Record of 491.99km/h.

Female Speed Skydiving podium from left to right: Maxine Tate 2nd, Natisha Dingle 1st, and Ingrid van Deelen 3rd. Photo by Jochen Althoff.

National Team Event

In the team event, the United States (Anthony Landgren, Niklas Daniel, Kyle Lobpries) maintained the lead throughout the entire competition, taking gold in the end with a combined total of 12048.84km/h. Germany (Marco Hepp, Thorsten Morhaus, Matthias Kraft) came in second followed by Australia (Shane Turner, Natisha Dingle, Bruno Chagas).