With most of the 2023 FAI World Cups now complete, the Australian Parachute Federation would like to acknowledge and congratulate the Australian Parachute Team on their incredible performances in Formation Skydiving, Speed Skydiving and Wingsuit Performance.
Australian Parachute Team
Team Australia consisted of the following athletes:
Wingsuit Performance: Luke Rogers, Tom Davies, Tahi-Paul Munroe, Jason Dodunski and Chuang Liu
Formation Skydiving: Whitefish (Dale Findlay, Alex Cattaneo, Karen Fuller, Valérie Schmied and Stephen Tonson)
Speed Skydiving: Shane Turner, Natisha Dingle and Mervyn O'Connell
Canopy Piloting: Sean Haysom, Miles Cottman, Richo Healey, Adrian Seemann and Cameron Puttee (CP World Cup will take place from 18th-22nd October)
Congratulations to all of the athletes for their incredible performances. Read on to see the results and some first hand accounts from the athletes.
Speed Skydiving
Let's start with Speed Skydiving.
Shane Turner, Natisha Dingle and Mervyn O'Connell represented Team Australia at the 5th FAI Speed Skydiving World Cup in Prostějov, Czech Republic, in August.
And they certainly deserve a round of applause with these incredible team and individual results:
National Team Competition: Team Australia - 1st overall - Total: 11,516.0
Female Competition: Natisha Dingle - 1st overall - Average speed: 486.99 km/h over 8 rounds
Open Competition: Natisha Dingle - 5th overall (486.99 km/h); Mervyn O'Connell - 8th overall (477.97 km/h); Shane Turner - 9th overall (474.55 km/h)
New World Records: Highest Average Speed (Natisha: 496.22 km/h, Team Australia: 490.73 km/h); Maximum Vertical Speed Without Drogue (Natisha: 500.87 km/h); Highest Overall Average Speed (Natisha: 486.99 km/h, Team Australia: 479.83 km/h)
Natisha Dingle:
Natisha's World Cup was nothing far from incredible, leaving the competition with 2 x Gold Medals (National Team and Female Competition), 3 x new Individual World Records (2 of which were made and broken again by Natisha during the competition) and 2 x new Team World Records (1 of which was made and broken twice more by the team during the competition).
"I had an incredible week. There were so many highlights, but I would like to start with how impressed I was when I turned up and found out there were eight other women competing. In Australia, women only represent 13% of licensed skydivers. Collectively over seven nations, we represented almost 30% of this competition. I hope to see this grow every year. There is definitely some emerging talent to keep me on my toes.
Representing Australia with my mates is always a great time, with nothing but support for each other. Together as a team we achieved four world records and a gold medal, and I achieved five more world records and a gold medal in the female division. I am beyond proud that every goal I set for this competition was achieved. I guess it's time to move the goal posts. Thank you to my amazing support crew, I appreciate every one of you!"
Shane Turner:
"Speed Team Australia for the win! I’m so proud of our team!! Natisha, Merv and I delivered 4 x World Team Speed Records on the climb to Gold!
It has been a huge goal of mine to help see Australia on the Top Podium and I couldn’t have asked for a better team to do it with! The mateship and support from individuals is next level! We fought hard to get the results, coming from 3rd half way through, straight to first then falling back into second before our last jump, securing the win with the 8th and final jump!"
Wingsuit Performance
Next up is Wingsuit Performance.
We had 5 athletes representing Australia at the 4th FAI World Cup of Wingsuit Performance, also in Prostějov, Czech Republic, in August.
Luke Rogers, Tahi-Paul Munroe, Jason Dodunski, Thomas Davies and Chuang Liu achieved the following incredible individual and team results, along with some new records:
National Team Competition: Team Australia - 1st overall (Luke Rogers, Thomas Davies and Jason Dodunski)
Overall Results: Luke Rogers - 3rd, Thomas Davies - 5th, Jason Dodunski - 9th, Tahi Paul-Munroe - 11th, Chuang Liu - 31st
Distance: Luke Rogers - 3rd, Thomas Davies - 6th, Jason Dodunski - 7th, Tahi Paul-Munroe - 12th, Chuang Liu - 33rd
Speed: Tahi Paul-Munroe - 3rd, Luke Rogers - 5th, Thomas Davies - 6th, Jason Dodunski - 22nd, Chuang Liu - 31st
Time: Luke Rogers - 3rd, Thomas Davies - 6th, Jason Dodunski - 9th, Tahi Paul-Munroe - 17th, Chuang Liu - 28th
New Oceanian Records: Distance (Luke Rogers: 5,122 metres); Time (Luke Rogers: 105.9 seconds)
Luke Rogers:
Luke left the competition as one of the most decorated athletes of the FAI World Cup of Wingsuit Performance, achieving 3rd Place overall, Bronze for both Distance and Time, Gold as part of Australia's National Team and 2 new Oceanian Records for Distance (5,122 metres) and Time (105.9 seconds).
"What a journey! A huge congrats to Alexey Galda for securing 1st place and Luca Sala for taking 2nd. The competition was fierce, with a mere six-tenths of a point setting the top three pilots apart. This year we still had people seeing how far they could stretch the rules; I'm grateful to clinch the 3rd spot with my integrity intact. Team Australia, represented by myself, Thomas Davies and Jason Dodunski, scored gold! Immense gratitude to my sponsors."
Jason Dodunski:
"We did it! Australia took Gold as a team at the 2023 World Cup. Super proud of how strong the Australian Wingsuit Performance pilots are.
As an individual, I finished 9th. In the first round of Speed, no excuse I messed up, taking a penalty from a lane violation. In the first round of Time, I scored on my personal flysight a PB of 98.1, but unfortunately there was a 30 meter discrepancy between my flysight and the comp flysight, with the comp unit registering my flare above the window and only getting recognised for 89. These 2 setbacks in the first round put me on the backfoot and chasing the rest of the comp, but I flew my distance rounds strong and got to show my time strength in the last round.
Although my final result wasn't as strong as last year, I'm happy with how I've improved my head space while competing at this level. Once again I cannot express my gratitude loud enough to the team supporting me."
Tahi Paul-Munroe:
"4th FAI World Cup of Wingsuit Performance is done and dusted. Happy to come home with a Bronze medal in the Speed category and an overall finish of 11th. Congratulations to my Aussie team mates who won gold in the team division!! I'm grateful to be learning from the best in the business.
Also, congratulations to Dawid Winczewski for your overall finish and taking the Gold, and Ali Asker for taking the silver in the Speed category! Dang, you're both fast."
Formation Skydiving
And finally, Formation Skydiving.
The 23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving took place in Voss, Norway, in August, and team 'Whitefish' (Dale Findlay, Alex Cattaneo, Karen Fuller, Valérie Schmied and Stephen Tonson) represented Australia at the competition.
After a tough competition, with jumps spread out due to weather holds, 'Whitefish' finished 19th overall in the 4-Way Formation Skydiving category, with an average of 12.6 points across 10 rounds. The team had some friendly, and extremely close, competition going with team LUX, from The Netherlands, which created a great atmosphere on the flights to height, with LUX finishing just one point ahead in 18th position.
Whitefish:
"What a competition! Round 10 was all done by 10am on the last day. We scored 15, and so did the Dutchies team, so we stayed 1 point behind. Congratulations to LUX for a great competition! We ended up 19th out of 24 teams, with a 12.6 average.
To top off the day, we all went on an adventure to jump into a fjord called Bakkanosi - an innhop we will remember forever! We were very happy and celebrated at the closing ceremony. Voss did not disappoint, and spoilt us to the very end!
A big thank you to everyone who supported us through this amazing journey."
Congratulations again to all of the Australian Parachute Team athletes.
Full results and scores can be found here.
FAI Records can be found here.
Canopy Piloting World Cup
Now we are looking forward to the 11th FAI World Cup of Canopy Piloting in Arizona, from 18th-22nd October!
Congratulations to the following athletes, who will be representing Team Australia:
Canopy Piloting: Sean Haysom, Miles Cottman, Richo Healey, Adrian Seemann and Cameron Puttee
Both Shane Onis and Leigh McCormack qualified for the team, but unfortunately won't be able to compete due to injuries. Wishing them both speedy recoveries.
[Photo Sources: Laura Phillips, Stephen Tonson]