USPA will hold a July 15-31 special election to fill the vacancy on the board.
For more information visit: axisflightschool.com/nd4nd
The Drop
News and Resources from AXIS Flight School
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The AXIS FS 4-way dive pool images and video have been updated to include the new block 20 (Zipper – Inter – Zipper). The new content is now availble on the AXIS Draw Generator. Video courtesy of Arizona Airspeed / Alex Swindel.
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Make sure to show Garnett some love by subscribing to his channel.
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The 2nd ISSA World Cup Series Event of 2025 hosted by AXIS Flight School has concluded at Skydive Arizona. Over the weekend five competitors gave it their all to fly as fast as possible.
From left to right: Niklas Daniel, Brianne Thompson, Joel Williamson, Robert Carlton, Alexander Osborn.
Photo by Jochen Althoff.
https://axis.tools/tool_Cond.php Although day one brought some clouds and strong winds, the competitors we able to complete four out of eight rounds as intended. The conditions aloft proved challenging, as the winds were recorded in excess of 70mph / 120kmh. On day two the weather was significantly better allowing the competition to complete all eight rounds by 2pm.
Current World Champion Niklas Daniel broke his own unofficial world record twice; once in round 5 (530.77kmh / 329.81mph) and again in round 8 (535.43kmh / 332.70mph). Finishing the meet with an average of 528.24kmh gives Nik a strong chance of defending the ISSA Earnest Holford Memorial Sword in the ISSA Finals later this year. World’s fastest female Brianne Thompson took silver in Open and gold in the Female category, while Joel Williamson took bronze in Open.
Photo by Alex Swindle. 
https://skyderby.ru/events/speed_skydiving/148 Robert was a newcomer to the discipline and saw his scores improve dramatically as his fellow competitors gave him valuable insights and feedback. Nik, Brianne, Joel, and Alex, who are all on the United States Parachute Team, will be representing the USA at the upcoming 2025 FAI World Cup in Hohenems, Austria. Special thanks to Skydive Arizona and the judging team (Toby Adams and Alix Raymond) who made this event possible. Training for and participating in ISSA events is a great way to learn and get exposure to Speed Skydiving. For information about future events and coaching, visit www.AXISFlightSchool.com
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Written by Niklas Daniel. Special thanks to Eugene Ciurana for translating! Scroll down for 🇪🇸 Spanish and 🇫🇷 French texts.
Photo by Michael Brewer Do you like to go fast? Would you like to join an incredible community of athletes that are pushing the limits of what is humanly possible? Would you like the opportunity to represent your home country on your pursuit to excellence? Then Speed Skydiving (SP) might be for you. SP is an amazing competitive discipline that has seen steady growth but is mostly dominated by Europeans and Australians. It is time to see more American countries join the race. Looking at you Canada and Latin America!
What is Speed Skydiving?
The goal of a speed skydive is to reach the highest vertical velocity possible. Performance is recorded using GPS over 8 rounds. The athlete with the highest total score at the end of the competition is the victor. There are various subcategories like Open, Female, Junior, Mixed, and National Team. You can have a look at the current Global Eternal Rankings on the ISSA website, which tracks all SP athlete’s top performances. So, take your angle-flying and freefly skills to the next level. SP is a solo activity but is one of the most inclusive and accessible disciplines there is. The community is incredibly friendly, welcoming, and open to sharing their knowledge and experience. SP can be performed from virtually any aircraft and does not require any teammates or videographers – just freefly friendly equipment and a Flysight GPS recorder. The competition rules can be found on the FAI website and safety recommendations in USPA’s Skydiver’s Information Manual 6-13.
Make History!
You could be the first speeder to champion your country’s flag at the next FAI Speed Skydiving World Championships in 2026. But to attend a First Category Event (FCE), you will first have to qualify by passing your country’s team selection process. It is worth noting that one does not have to be a National Champion to attend a World Championship. In fact, a national team can have up to 12 members (9/3 by gender). It is up to each National Aviation Authority (NAC) whom to send to an FCE. Contact your country’s ISC delegate and or ISC Judges for more information on how to qualify. In addition, you will need to:
- hold a valid passport that aligns with the country you wish to represent,
- have a current international sporting license issued by your NAC that meets FAI standards for Category 1 competitions, and
- pass potential drug testing – WADA code.
As you climb the ranks you may even be eligible for competition and performance records. Since there have been so few American countries competing in the discipline there are lots of opportunities to be seized. While it is easy to get started, the discipline offers unique challenges that provide rewarding opportunities for growth over the years. So, what are you waiting for? Do you have the NEED for SPEED? Coaching, skills camps, and ISSA events are available with Niklas Daniel and Brianne Thompson, the world’s fastest male and female, at AXIS Flight School located at Skydive Arizona. Contact info@AXISFlightSchool.com for more information.
🇪🇸 Caída Libre de Velocidad Te Busca
¿Te gusta volar aprisa? ¿Te gustaría unirte a una comunidad de atletas increíble, quienes participan y compiten al límite de la capacidad humana? ¿Te gustaría tener la oportunidad de representar a tu país en tu búsqueda de excelencia? ¡Caída Libre de Velocidad (Speed Skydiving o SP) es para ti! SP es una disciplina competitiva e impresionante. Ha visto gran crecimiento en los países europeos y en Australia. Ya es hora de que los países americanos se unan a esta carrera. ¡Los invitamos aquí, Canadá y América Latina!
¿Qué es la Caída Libre de Velocidad (SP)?
La meta de SP es alcanzar la velocidad vertical más alta posible en caída libre. El desempeño se registra con dispositivos de navegación GPS durante 8 ciclos de saltos. El atleta ganador será quien tiene el marcador más alto al final de la competencia. Hay varias sub-categorías como Abierto, Femenil, Mixto, Junior, y Equipo Nacional. Mira la página de Registro Eterno Global en el sitio web de ISSA (International Speed Skydiving Association), donde están registrados los mejores desempeños de todos los atletas en esta disciplina a nivel mundial. Impulsa tu habilidad de freefly y vuelo angular al siguiente nivel. SP es una actividad individual, pero, al mismo tiempo, es una disciplina muy accesible e inclusiva. La comunidad es muy amigable y abierta a compartir conocimiento y experiencia. SP se puede practicar desde casi cualquier aeronave y no requiere acompañantes de vídeo o grupo. Solo se necesita equipo básico de paracaidismo en buen estado y un dispositivo FlySight. Las reglas de competencia aparecen en el sitio de FIA y las recomendaciones de seguridad están en la sección 6-13 del Manual de Información del Paracaidista (SIM) de la USPA.
Haz Historia
Tú podrías ser el primer campeón velocista bajo la bandera de tu país en el siguiente Campeonato Mundial FAI de Caída Libre de Velocidad 2025. Para atender necesitarías calificar primero en un Evento de Primera Categoría (First Category Event o FCE): Es importante notar que no es necesario ser campeón nacional para atender un campeonato mundial. De hecho, un equipo nacional puede tener hasta 12 miembros (9 hombres máximo y 3 mujeres mínimo). La Autoridad Nacional de Aviación (National Aviation Authority o NAC) de cada país decidirá a quien enviar a eventos FCE. Comunícate con el delegado del Comité de Paracaidismo Internacional (International Skydiving Committee o ISC) en tu país o con los Jueces de ISC para obtener más información sobre como calificar. Además, necesitarás:
- Tener un pasaporte válido del país que representas
- Tener una licencia internacional vigente otorgada por la autoridad de aviación de tu país (National Aviation Authority o NAC) compatible con los estándares de competencia en Categoría 1
- Pasar pruebas de doping – ver el código WADA
Serás elegible para records de competencia y desempeño. Hay gran oportunidad de destacar en esta disciplina entre los países americanos dado que hay poca participación relativa. Aunque es fácil comenzar, esta disciplina ofrece retos únicos que resultan en oportunidades de crecimiento atlético y personal con el tiempo. Así que… ¡No esperes! ¿Sientes la NECESIDAD de VOLAR APRISA? Entrenamiento, cursos de habilidad, y eventos de ISSA están disponibles con el hombre y mujer más rápidos del mundo, Niklas Daniel y Brianne Thompson. Visítanos en AXIS Fight School en Skydive Arizona. Dale cllick a infо@AXISFlightSchool.com para mayor información.
🇫🇷 Recherche Toi la Chute Libre de Vitesse Rapide
Aimes-tu voler vite? Souhaitsz-tu rejoindre une incroyable communauté d’athlètes qui participent et rivalisent aux limites des capacités humaines? Souhaites-tu avoir l’opportunité de représenter ta pays dans ton quête d’excellence? Le Speed Skydiving (SP) est fait pour toi! Le SP est une discipline compétitive et impressionnante. Il a connu une forte croissance dans les pays européens et en Australie. Il est temps que les pays américains se joignent à cette course. Nous toi invitons ici, Canada et Amérique Latine!
Qu’est-ce que la Chute Libre à Vitesse Rapide (SP)?
L’objectif du SP est d’atteindre la vitesse verticale la plus élevée possible en chute libre. Les performances sont enregistrées avec des appareils de navigation GPS pendant 8 cycles de saut. L’athlète gagnant sera celui qui aura obtenu le score le plus élevé à la fin de la compétition. Il existe plusieurs sous-catégories telles que Open, Féminin, Mixte, Junior et Équipe nationale. Consultez la page Global Eternal Record sur le site de l’ISSA (International Speed Skydiving Association), où sont enregistrées les meilleures performances de tous les athlètes de cette discipline à travers le monde. Améliorez tes compétences en vol libre et en vol angulaire. Le SP est une activité individuelle, mais en même temps, c’est une discipline très accessible et inclusive. La communauté est très amicale et ouverte au partage de connaissances et d’expériences. Le SP peut être pratiqué à partir de presque tous les avions et ne nécessite pas de vidéo ni de compagnons de groupe. Tout ce dont vous avez besoin est un équipement de parachutisme de base en bon état et un appareil FlySight. Les règles de compétition figurent sur le site Internet de la FIA et les recommandations de sécurité se trouvent dans la section 6-13 du Manuel d’information pour parachutistes de l’USPA (SIM).
Faires l’Histoire
Tu pourries être le premier champion de sprint sous le drapeau de ta pays aux prochains championnats du monde de vitesse en chute libre de la FAI en 2025. Pour tu qualifier, devres d’abord tu qualifier dans un événement de première catégorie (FCE): Il est important de noter qu’il n’y a pas Il faut être champion national pour participer à un championnat du monde. En fait, une équipe nationale peut compter jusqu’à 12 membres (9 hommes maximum et 3 femmes minimum). L’Autorité Nationale de l’Aviation (NAC) de chaque pays décidera qui envoyer aux événements FCE. Contactes ton délégué du Comité international de parachutisme (ISC) dans ta pays ou les juges de l’ISC pour plus d’informations sur la façon de tu qualifier. De plus, tu aures besoin de:
- Avoir un passeport valide du pays que représentes
- Être titulaire d’une licence internationale valide délivrée par l’autorité aéronautique de votre pays (National Aviation Authority ou NAC) compatible avec les normes de compétence de la catégorie 1
- Réussir les tests antidopage – voir le code de WADA
Seres admissible aux records de compétition et de performance. Il y a une grande opportunité de se démarquer dans cette discipline parmi les pays américains étant donné que la participation relative est faible. Bien que facile à démarrer, cette discipline offre des défis uniques qui se traduisent par des opportunités de croissance athlétique et personnelle au fil du temps. Alors… N’attendez plus! Ressentez-tu le BESOIN de VOLER VITE? Des formations, des cours de compétences et des événements ISSA sont disponibles avec l’homme et la femme plus rapides du monde, Niklas Daniel et Brianne Thompson. Venes nous rendre visite à l’école AXIS Flight School à Skydive Arizona. Cliques sur info@AXISFlightSchool.com pour plus informations.
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The first offical information bulletin for the 6th FAI World Cup of Speed Skydiving at Hohenems Austria has been release (25th – 30th August 2025).
For those competitors who are still interested in receiving their competition flysight tracks from the 5th FAI World Speed Skydiving Championships 2024, you can now put in a request to: isc-judges@fai.org
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The International Speed Skydiving Association (ISSA) is a non-profit organization that promotes speed skydiving, organizes annual World Cup Series events, and develops the sport. The World Cup Series is a sequence of meets held around the world. The competitor with the most points at the end of the season is the ISSA Speed Skydiving World Series Champion. Competitors are scored in three categories: Open, Female, and Junior, where they perform solo speed skydives over eight rounds. Their scores are aggregated from their two best competition performances. The 2024 season concluded on December 8th at Skydive Arizona, where AXIS Flight School hosted the final event. Throughout the year there were seven events across the globe. Participating drop zones included: Skydive Great Ocean Road (AUS), Skydive Arizona (USA) x2, Skydive Saulgau (GER), Skydive Fano (ITA), Neustadt Glewe (GER), and Skydive Stockholm (SWE). In total there were 61 competitors from 11 countries.
Results:
OPEN
Place Athlete Country Overall Highest Scoring Round 1 Niklas Daniel USA 1036.57 530.3kmh / 329.5mph 2 Marco Hepp GER 1030.29 521.6kmh / 324.1mph 3 Mervyn O’Connell AUS 991.33 503.2kmh / 312.7mph FEMALE
Place Athlete Country Overall Highest Scoring Round Open Rank 1 Brianne Thompson USA 951.13 481.1kmh / 298.9mph 6 2 Tanita Rutherford AUS 931.50 476.9kmh / 296.3mph 10 3 Sara Lundqvist SWE 886.33 450.7kmh / 280.1mph 13 JUNIOR (up to 24 years of age)
Place Athlete Country Overall Highest Scoring Round Open Rank 1 Linus Eckenigk GER 881.67 472.0kmh / 293.3mph 14 2 Nico Hoffmann GER 770.01 409.6kmh / 254.5mph 23 3 Nelia Molder GER 760.99 402.4kmh / 250.0mph 25 During the finals in Arizona, Niklas set an unoffical World Record competition score at 530.3kmh (329.5mph) and a new US National Performance Record for maximum vertical speed without drogue at 546.839kmh (339.790mph). For full ISSA World Cup Series results and Eternal Global Rankings, visit: https://www.issa.one
Training for and participating in ISSA events is a great way to learn and get exposure to Speed Skydiving. In general, the discipline is dominated by Europeans and Australians. In the future, we would like to see other American countries like Canadia, as well as Central and South America participate and eventually represent their respective countries at the World Level. With the conclusion of the 2024 season, United States’ Niklas Daniel and Brianne Thompson of AXIS Flight School are now the fastest male and female competitors in the discipline’s history (GPS). They look forward to hosting more ISSA events (March and December) and skill camps in 2025 at Skydive Arizona. More information available at www.AXISFlightSchool.com
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On Cover: Speed Skydiving with Niklas Daniel – AXIS Flight School
photo by Anthony Armendariz – courtesy of USPA.orgTo view online magazine, please click here.
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What is it?
The ISSA Earnest Holdford Memorial Sword is a perpetual trophy that is presented to the ISSA World Cup Series Champion at the end of each year. The competition consists of several individual international meets. The overall result is determined by the sum of an athlete’s two best competition results regardless of the number of events completed. The competitor with most points is declared ISSA Speed Skydiving World Cup Series Champion for that year. If a competitor elects not participate in some of the available meets, the result for that particular event is zero.
Origin & Design
“ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?!” This trophy was donated by Matthew Holford, a speed skydiver since 2003 and is dedicated to the memory of his grandfather Earnest Holford. Earnest served in the 10th Parachute Regiment (10 Para) of the British Army during WW2 and always dreamt of being able to fall “as fast as a hawk” instead of being limited by the static-line parachute deployment system used by the military. Although he completed a handful of free fall skydives after the war he did not live to see the advent of speed skydiving which would be the realization of his dream. In his later years he collected swords and after his passing Matty presented one of them to the ISSA to be the World Series Winner’s trophy. The sword was one of the props of the multiple Oscar winning 2000 film “Gladiator” starring Russel Crowe. Earnest had acquired the trophy from Universal Studios and Matty thought it an appropriate recognition of the individual, gladitatorial nature of speed skydiving.
The trophy was first presented in 2015 to Marco Wiederkehr without the wood plaque background. In 2018 Max Hurd sponsored the upgrade that gave the trophy its current look, adding the previous winners to the plaque dating all the way back to 2004. At 1 foot wide, 4 feet tall, and weighing in at 17lbs, the award is decorated with small individual gold plaques with every ISSA winner’s names. The trophy is passed on to new winners after the completion of each World Cup Series, rather than being kept by the winner indefinitely. For the first time in the competiton’s 20 year history, the sword can now be found in the United States at AXIS Flight School.
ISSA Champions 2004 – 2024
YEAR WINNERS 2004 Mark Calland (GBR) 2005 Marco Wiederkehr (SUI) 2006 Marco Wiederkehr (SUI) 2007 Marco Wiederkehr (SUI) 2008 Christian Labhart (SUI) 2009 Marco Wiederkehr (SUI) 2010 Christian Labhart (SUI) 2011 Marco Wiederkehr (SUI) 2012 Marco Wiederkehr (SUI) 2013 Marco Wiederkehr (SUI) 2014 Marco Wiederkehr (SUI) 2015 Marco Wiederkehr (SUI) 2016 Mike Lovemore (GBR) 2017 Max Hurd (GBR) 2018 Henrik Raimer (SWE) 2019 Marco Hepp (GER) 2022 Marco Hepp (GER) 2023 Marco Hepp (GER) 2024 Niklas Daniel (USA) 
Niklas Daniel with the ISSA Earnest Holford Memorial Sword and the FAI Tim Mace Memorial Trophy at Skydive Arizona 2024. Photo Brianne Thompson.
The Drop 