posted Aug 8th, 2015 - Finland held the national championships at the airport of Pori on the country's west coast this week, and the AAA Class competition featured three teams trying to win the national 4-way title and qualify for next year's World Championship of Formation Skydiving at the Mondial 2016 in Ottawa.

Finland had three different national teams at the last three world meets. The Pro Team competed in Menzelinsk 2010 and finished in 10th place with a 20.4 average.

The Silver Knights competed at the Mondial Dubai 2012 (22nd - 14.3) and the Tigers placed 12th in Prostejov 2014 with a 13.8 average.

The Pro Team's Top 10 finish in 2010 was the best result of a team from Finland in the country's history since 1985, with two exceptions.

Finland's national team of 1985 also placed 10th at the first world meet with the current rules and regulations, tied with Russia and an 8.1 average.

Finnish Nationals 2015		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	22,12,8	18,O,15	3,17,C	L,21,J,4	10,7,K	B,F,N,H,G	2,D,1	16,19,M	11,A,Q,5	6,14,20	Total	Avg
1	Tigers	10	14	13	15	14	28	14	11	13	13	145	14.5
2	Silver Knights	8	10	14	13	13	22	12	12	12	8	124	12.4
3	Puumat	7	10	8	8	7	23	9	8	10	9	99	9.9
Rank	A Class	8,G	O,J,H	C,4	L,21	7,K	B,F,N	2,D	19,M	A,Q,9	6,P	Total	Avg
1	Awesome	2	11	6	7	10	11	4	7	12	-	70	7.8
2	Opossums	4	8	7	5	7	13	7	7	6	-	64	7.1
3	Gearless	4	10	5	5	6	12	4	6	-	-	52	6.5

The second exception is a very impressive one, as Finland's national team Madway finished in 4th place at the World Meet 1993 in Eloy with a 14.9 average.

It is even more impressive that one of the current Tigers members was in the Madway lineup that won the national championships 22 years ago.

Jorma Löfgren is the current Tail for the Tigers, and he trained and competed with Madway in 1993.

He joined the Tigers when the team was formed in 2007 to bring Finland back onto the international leaderboards.

Finland had a long break after the last visit of a 4-way team at the World Meet 2001 in Spain. No teams competed at the next three consecutive world meets in 2003, 2004 and 2006.

The hibernation was over when the Tigers came together in 2007 and then attended the World Meet 2008 in Maubeuge. It was another long-standing 4-way competitor from Finland who was in the original Tigers lineup in 2007.

Joonas Karjalainen was in the last Finnish 4-way team before the long break. He had competed for Finland in Spain 2001 and finished 26th with a 5.9 average.

Jorma Löfgren and Joonas Karjalainen together then placed 16th with a 14.5 average at the World Meet 2008 before the Pro Team took over the top spot in Finland.

The Tigers had to accept the 2nd places in Finland for a few years and almost came back in 2012, when the Silver Knights won the national championships by two points after ten rounds.

The Silver Knights competed for Finland at the Mondial Dubai 2012 and then stepped back until this year.

The Pro Team still won the national championships in 2013 and 2014, however, the Tigers were back as Finland's national 4-way team at the FAI World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2014.

This year, the Tigers are back with a new lineup. Former Pro Team member Eija Suvala has joined the old and new national 4-way team. She was not in the Tigers lineup at Finland's Indoor Nationals 2015 and now won the outdoor gold medals this week.

The Tigers are now making plans for the 1st FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championships in Prague, together with the bronze medal winner Puumat, an all-female lineup.

Puumat used the Super Sequence in Round 6 (B,F,N,H,G) to post a new Finnish record in 4-way Women for a single round.

The Tigers scored 28 points in the same round, while the Pro Team still owns the 43-pointer highscore (J,M,Q,P,L) from the World Meet 2010 in Menzelinsk, with Eija Suvala in the lineup.

Tigers and Puumat may also travel together to the USA next year for the Mondial 2016. It would be the first time that Finland has teams in both 4-way events at a World Championship of Formation Skydiving.