Ashley Crick's Freestyle & Skysurf Notes

Thursday 21st October

First day of competition!! The weather is warm, the skies are clear, the opening ceremony is about to start. After the teams march out, mig jets, acrobatic aircraft and a 100 way hop and pop display pleases the crowd. The aussie sun burns those unaware of it's intensity as we stand on the tarmac for over an hour.

First competition load is called and we are away. There is a lot of nervous and anxious freestylists and skysurfers. Vivianne Wegrath had only just arrived from Chile a matter of hours before the first round!! The first two rounds are compulsory routines. This pleases some, but only a handful.

Both of the initial compulsory rounds are completed before sunset. Men's freestyle saw Nicolas Arnaud (France) in first place, myself (Australia) in second place and Boaz Goren (Israel) in third. In the women's freestyle, Gemma Stevens (Australia) is leading with Luci Mani-Hunold (Switzerland) second and Emmanuelle Celicout (France) third.

In men's skysurf, Valerie Rozov (Russia) was in first, Oliver Furrer (Switzerland) second and Eric Fradet (France) third. Women's Skysurf saw Tania Garcia-O'Brien (USA) first, Vivian Wegrath (Switzerland) second and Marta Ferreira (Portugal) third.

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