OmniSkore! coverage of the 2008 US Nationals.
Omnibits by KFC

USPA Skydiving National Championships – Vertical Formation Skydiving
By KFC - http://www.skydivergirls.com/

What an amazing event!

The new all girl VFS team, KA-1 was the talk of the day. From Lodi, California, this is their first time at Nationals and these girls really showed their skills. A 16pt round put them in 2nd place at one point. Not every jump could be that fantastic and they closed taking 4th in the Advanced class.

Also making news at this year’s event was the Canadian team, Los Barachos Mosquitos. Competing in the Open class as a guest (not able to place officially), our northern neighbors gave it their all and were recognized as serious fliers and supporters of the World Cup which needs multiple nations to be successful. The French are also World Cup supporters.

Everyone had a great time as the weather was beautiful, the vibe positive, and the skills impressive across the board. VFS skills are increasing at a very high rate. Derived from our belly flier forefathers, vertical formation skydiving just three years ago hit averages of 9 point rounds. Today in round one, Mandarin scored an amazing 40 points! I guess OmniSkore is going to have to bump up their max number of points soon as it currently accommodates scores of 50 or lower.

Amy Chmelecki of Arizona Arsenal points out “We’re benefiting from FS (formation skydiving). They completely set the standard and they teach us everything they know.” Furthermore, she adds “We have speed on our side because we go 160-170 mph so physics helps. We can go faster because we’re vertical plus compared with FS we have less distance from each other but most importantly, because formation skydiving already wrote all the rules. We do what they do.” Team Jedi, the silver medalist for advanced, takes this to heart and was the only team who competed in both VFS and FS.

Arsenal saw a slow start six points behind Mandarin in round one but they kept their cool and remained in control throughout the rest of the competition just as their coach had taught them. It paid off and they took the Gold with a 12 point lead!

Everyone seemed happy with the draw. Open class round one was potentially a ripper where the final round was highly technical, all randoms with difficult upright moves. Advanced class round three was more difficult w/a sit flier in each point while the other rounds were possible burner rounds catering to faster higher scoring skydives.

All in all it was a great day for VFS. People loved the competition and the opportunity to quantify flying skills in the discipline.

SkydiverGirls.TV was in full force as there was a greater compliment of women in this year’s competition. Advanced class saw ten women total and the first all girl team while the open class had only two women (Amy Chmelecki & Sara Curtis) both of the winning team Arizona Arsenal. Out of 80 competitors, there were 12 women this year in VFS. David Gershfeld wins best job as the token guy camera flier for the all girl team… lucky guy!

Blue Skies and c-ya next year! KFC

Note: All Omnibits commentary are the expressed opinions of the writer, not USPA or Skydive Arizona.