Hey from iFLY Perth,
On Saturday, 25th November 2017 we held our first Western Australian Indoor Skydiving Championships in our true WA Chilled style, and it did not disappoint! We attracted 66 competitors across seven disciplines, and the tunnel was humming.
It was awesome to have so many new faces making up our rookie/scratch teams, with some competitors first rounds as their first time flying together. Others had put in and trained hard leading up to the competition which was evident on comp day with some stellar rounds on display.
It was great to welcome competitors from the east coast, it added good competition to the mix and offered great inspiration for our up-and-coming local flyers. Thank you for making an effort to join us east coasters.
Our junior flyers were a crowd favourite, seeing their progression and having the East and West flying cats (Sarah Yates and Oxana Mamchur) take out 2 Way VFS Inter proves the next generation of flyers are here and our sport, although still young in Australia, is well and truly on the rise.
The Junior freestyle attracted five flyers, such a fresh and supporting bunch. Sarah Yate’s solid routine took the gold with 26.6 points, our local WA Boys and brothers Noah on 21.2, and Cooper on 19.6 is took home silver and bronze. These two young shredders have set their sights big things in the coming years and will be ones to watch coming into the 2018 champs. Honourable mentions go to Oxana and Hannah Toh (her first comp!) for their excellent routines, and showing dedication leading up to the comp as well as on comp day. Steller effort form all our juniors.
Freestyle open’s competition was awesome, fast-paced, and elegant. Taking out gold was our instructor and coach Dave Hyndman with a freshly created routine on 53.4, a close battle for silver and bronze with just 0.4 between Elise Brown on 43.6 and Sarah Yates in on 43.2. Both girls showed grace and challenging moves. Our lovely locals Melissa Lisle, and Piret Lain, showed impressive progression and although first-time competitors for indoor, are setting a high standard for freestyle in WA and will be the ones to watch coming into 2018.
2 Way VFS attracted the most teams with 8 pairs competing. The East West Flying Cats taking out gold on 97 points was amazing to witness, both 13-years-old, these girls did not muck around. A close second was our forever fun and charming Wet Willies taking the silver on 96 points and stealing the show by competing in wetsuits and moustaches, a great look! Big thanks to these boys for keeping the energy up and ensuring everyone was entertained. Bronze went to the Sky Ninjas on 83 points, a pair who teamed up specifically for the comp, stoked with their placing. Honourable mentions to Bad Fellas and Cupcake who shared one main man Johnny Tan. Johnny’s quick costume changes to fly with his teammates was worth points in its own right. Miso Fly added some glamour to the day, and Hot Tub Flying Machine for smashing the points although coming together as a scratch team just days prior! Plus MC Team, they were pretty rad.
4 Way FS Open saw some of our most focused and passionate flyers battling it out, the dive pool was challenging, yet the guys still smashed it out in style. Subterfuge took gold with 62 points and trained hard leading up to the comp, and it was evident with their solid rounds. Silver went to the Curried Crumbs on 31 points, a scratch team to the max, having just met the week leading up to the comp, they did a stellar job, and you could see their remarkable progression round to round.
4 Way FS Rookie attracted a great mix of new and seasoned tunnel flyers with “Rum in your belly” taking gold with 66 points, they had a wild card member thrown in at the last minute, and their first round was their first time all flying together, what an excellent win from them. Taking Silver with 52 points was Goldilocks and the three bears, with thousands of skydives between them these guys put in a solid effort and will be the ones to beat in 2018. Taking bronze was Flat out on 42 points, these guys spent most of their time focusing on freefly, so great to see them trying their hand at belly and scoring in the top three. Honourable mention to Root 16 who came together just weeks before the event, I can’t commend them enough for coming together to compete, so impressed by their progression in such a short time.
2 Way FS gave us a real breadth of experience levels, Number 69 two-can-chew (two members of the famed Screaming Eagles 4 way FS team) took the gold with 129 points and stellar rounds, they also offered some of the most entertainment out of the tunnel with their shenanigans, unmistakable charm, and humour. The Wet Willies took silver with 119 points and continued to entertain. Taking Bronze with 97 was the Sik Reps a father-son team who through Dad’s passion for skydiving have found indoor skydiving and are smashing it. Big ups to The Muppets, both brand new to tunnel flying and as a team putting in a solid effort, look forward to seeing their progression for the coming year.
Competition has begun
Kids freestyle, 4 way FS open, rookie 4 way, freestyles open.
Final rounds of the WA iFLY Perth state competition!
4 Way VFS, one team, one dream, one gold, goes to the Fire Breathing Rubber Duckies. All skydivers, these 4 came together for the comp, put in great rounds and showed how awesome and challenging this discipline can be, sparking plenty of interest for people wanting to compete in 4 Way VFS in 2018. VFS is on the rise with heaps of progression in WA, so we can’t wait to see what the 2018 champs will present.
Our Competitor lounge was rad, delicious platters, snacks and food on offer throughout the day, refreshments, complimentary chiropractic adjustments form Lamp Chiro, and Massages from Game on massage. Great space for our competitors to run the dives, chill and get comp ready. You can rest assure any event with us you will be well fed, drank, and flown.
Biggest thanks to Maddy Yull and Joseph Bergic for putting it all together, our iFLY flight crew and instructors, for forever being obliging, helpful, and making the day run so smoothly. Top effort guys!
Much appreciation goes to the one and only Peta Holmes, for her impeccable judging and being a part of the day; we literally couldn’t have done it without you.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS:
Lamp Chiropractic – Game on Sports massage – Celebrations, Rivervale – My Bayon – Deem Flywear Australia – The Lookout pop up bar – LVN – WA Rigging Company – Jimmy Baker – Big T Boogie – Skydive York – Skydive Geronimo – Redemption Yoga – Scott Paterson – Phoenix-Fly.
– Cheers legends.
Our champs were a testament that competitions genuinely spike interest and passion in people, show that there is so much that can be achieved in indoor skydiving and endless progression.
Thank you to the people that got behind us, competed, showed the dedication and promise. You guys are the ones that grow this awesome sport. I’m truly thankful to be a part of it, and know that there is so much goodness on the horizon for iFLY Perth and Indoor Skydiving in Australia!
Our 2018 Western Australian champs will be in June, allowing for the lead up to the Australian champs, so get in a team, make friends, and get FLYING!
Hugs, and high fives, Dicey.
Check out all the photos from the Western Australian Indoor Skydiving State Championships on our Frequent iFLYER Facebook page here. Plus make sure you follow our page to keep updated with all our upcoming indoor skydiving events & competitions!