Teams of four or eight performers build a series of shapes or formations in freefall. Competitors link up by taking arm or leg grips either in a belly to earth or vertical (head up or head down) position.
In competition teams must correctly complete a randomly drawn sequence of formations as many times as they can in the allocated time they are given. Each correct formation scores the team one point. The team's videographer flies with the team to record their performance for the judges. There can be up to ten rounds in a competition, each round is a different sequence of formations. The winning team is the team who has the most points accrued over all complete rounds.
4-WAY FS
Teams are made up of four performers and one videographer. They have 35 seconds in freefall to make as many formations they can in a belly to earth position.
In Australia there are five different categories in competition, from beginner to advanced:
- Blast - teams have a sequence of 3 random formations per round. Dive pool HERE
- A - teams have a sequence of 3 to 4 random and block formations per round. Dive pool HERE
- AA - teams have a sequence of 4 to 5 random and block formations per round. Dive pool HERE
- AAA - teams have a sequence of 5 to 6 random and block formations per round. Dive pool HERE
- Female - same as the AAA category, however all team performers are female.
🎥 Watch Australian female record performance by team 'Boomerang Betty' at the 2018 World Parachuting Championships HERE
🎥 Watch Australian record performing team 'Rotor Out' at the 2018 World Parachuting Championships HERE
🏅Meet the 4-way FS Australian Parachute Team HERE
8-WAY FS
Teams are made up of eight performers and one videographer. They have 50 seconds in freefall to make as many formations as they can in a belly to earth position.
In Australia there are two different categories in competition - Intermediate and Open. Both categories have a sequence of 5 to 6 random and block formations per round. The Intermediate dive pool has removed some of the harder random and block moves.
Open dive pool HERE.
Intermediate dive pool HERE
🎥 Watch Australian record performing team 'Jyr8' at the 2018 World Parachuting Championships HERE
🏅Meet the 8-way FS Australian Parachute Team HERE
VERTICAL FORMATION SKYDIVING (VFS)
Teams have 35 seconds in freefall to complete as many formations as they can. Formations are flown in a combination of head up and head down configurations.
In Australia there are four different categories in competition, from beginner to advanced:
- 2-way Intermediate - teams have a sequence of 3 to 4 random and block formations per round. Dive pool HERE
- 2-way Open - teams have a sequence of 4 to 5 random and block formations per round. Dive pool HERE
- 4-way Advanced - teams have a sequence of 3 to 4 random and block formations per round. Dive pool HERE
- 4-way Open - teams have a sequence of 5 to 6 random and block formations per round. Dive pool HERE
🎥 Watch Australian record performance by team 'Focus' at the 2020 National Championships HERE
🏅Meet the 4-way VFS Australian Parachute Team HERE