With all of the 2024 World Championship events complete, we would like to congratulate the Australian Parachute Team members for their incredible performances and achievements. Here is a round up from the competitions.
Canopy Formation & Accuracy Landing
The 2024 World Championships took place over three different events and locations, with each event hosting different disciplines.
First up was Prostejov in the Czech Republic, hosting the World Canopy Formation Championships and World Style & Accuracy Landing Championships from 31 August - 07 September 2024.
Congratulations to team 'Line Burns' (Niall Saunders, Martin Letch and Tommaso Watson), competing in Canopy Formation, and Kras Bankov, competing in Accuracy Landing, for their achievements. 'Line Burns' saved their best performance till last, scoring 19 points in Round 8, with first-time World Championships videographer Niall completing the competition with zero busts!
Full results can be seen here.
Canopy Piloting & Canopy Piloting Freestyle
Next up it was Pretoria's turn in South Africa, hosting the World Canopy Piloting Championships and World Canopy Piloting Freestyle Championships from 22-30 September 2024.
Congratulations to George Sheather, Shane Onis, Zack Rosser, Miles Cottman and Jarrod Matthews for their great individual performances, personal bests, top 10 finishes, and National Team podium positions in both competitions. A huge thank you also goes out to team manager, Sandy Nieuwenhoven.
Combined scores from George's, Shane's and Miles' performances resulted in Australia bringing home Bronze in Canopy Piloting and Silver in Canopy Piloting Freestyle in the National Team categories! And to top it off, new Australian and Oceania records in Distance were set by Shane and Miles respectively, and a new Australian record was set in Speed by Shane too.
Full results can be seen here.
Formation Skydiving, Speed Skydiving & Wingsuit Performance
The third and final event was in Beaufort, North Carolina, USA, hosting the World Formation Skydiving Championships, World Speed Skydiving Championships, World Wingsuit Flying Championships and World Artistic Events Championships from 04-12 October 2024.
Congratulations to team 'Havok' (Daniel Grey, Kristofor Sieczkowski, Alex Cattaneo, Joshua Leussink and Adam Phillips) competing in 4-Way FS, our Speed Skydiving athletes: Shane Turner, Natisha Dingle, Mervyn O'Connell, Tanita Rutherford, Simon Walsh and Alex Tomasi, and our Wingsuit Performance athletes: Luke Rogers, Jason Dodunski, Tom Davies, Tahi Paul-Munroe and Connor Young. A huge thank you also goes out to Team Manager, Kyle Binning.
The entire team did us extremely proud, putting in amazing performances across the board, with many athletes ticking the box for their first World Championships! Personal bests, Australian Records, Oceania Records and new World Records were set throughout, with more medals than you can count on your hands being brought home.
In Speed Skydiving, medals were brought home in the following categories:
Open: Bronze - Mervyn O'Connell
Female: Gold - Natisha Dingle, Silver - Tanita Rutherford
Mixed Team: Gold - Mervyn O'Connell and Natisha Dingle
National Team: Silver - Mervyn O'Connell, Natisha Dingle and Simon Walsh
Congratulations to Mervyn for setting 3 x Oceania Records in the Open category, and to Mervyn and Natisha for setting 3 x World Records in the Mixed Team category.
In Wingsuit Performance, medals were brought home in the following categories:
Overall: Gold - Luke Rogers, Silver - Jason Dodunski
Speed: Silver - Jason Dodunski
Distance: Silver - Jason Dodunski
Time: Gold - Luke Rogers, Silver - Jason Dodunski
National Team: Gold - Luke Rogers, Jason Dodunski and Tom Davies
Congratulations to Luke for setting a new World and Oceania Record in the Time category.
Full results can be seen here.
2025 Australian National Championships
Congratulations again to all of the Australian Parachute Team members who competed at the recent World Championship events, it truly is inspirational to see.
We now look forward to the 2025 Australian National Championships, which are confirmed to be held at Moruya and Picton. More information, including confirmed dates, will be released in Bulletin 1.
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[Photo sources: Marcus King/FAI, Sandy Nieuwenhoven, Kyle Binning]