posted Dec 18th, 2018 - Only two countries have won FAI gold medals in 4-way VFS ever since the event was introduced at FAI World Championships of Formation Skydiving. France won the first three sets of gold medals (2010 - 2012 - 2014) before the United States took control in 2016. The French Team4speed did not come back after the three gold medals, and France had to re-build.

SDC Core won the first set of gold medals for the U.S. delegation on their home turf at Skydive Chicago in 2016 and defended them successfully this year in Australia. The difference to the team in 2nd place was even larger than the one of the Golden Knights in 8-way, and there was only a serious competition between Evolution (Canada) and Focus (Australia) for the silver medals.

The Australian 4-way VFS team had the honor to win the first set of FAI Formation Skydiving medals for their country, and they were even close to the 2nd place that Evolution defended successfully after their first silver medals two years ago.

The 4-way VFS world meet competition in Australia was the first one with ten rounds, after FAI/IPC had added more blocks and random formations to the VFS dive pool two years ago. The two additional rounds added to the point difference of the winner, even though Round 10 was the only one that SDC Core gave away. Team captain Jason Russell provided insights of the VFS event from the SDC Core perspective.

FAI World Meet 2018			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way VFS		21,L,B,G	22,18,17	19,7,O	J,16,12	10,A,D,15	Q,M,F,C,N	H,20,P,13	6,14,11	E,2,5	4,1,3	Total	Avg
1	SDC Core	US	26	26	20	27	17	19	19	23	21	19	217	21.7
2	Evolution	CA	22	17	15	23	15	15	13	20	19	17	176	17.6
3	Focus	AU	22	20	13	20	12	16	14	17	18	20	172	17.2
4	Vertical Flystation	RU	18	14	9	20	13	7	8	16	18	18	141	14.1
5	Blue Pelican	NO	17	13	13	15	10	11	13	15	16	13	136	13.6
6	Omni 99	UK	18	10	11	15	10	11	9	11	14	11	120	12.0
7	Kwansta Kwattro	SE	12	11	7	14	8	10	5	6	11	11	95	9.5
8	Wait For It	FI	7	5	4	5	2	2	4	5	8	7	49	4.9

Evolution (Canada) and Focus (Australia) at the FAI World Meet 2018

The Gold Coast of Australia recently hosted the 2018 World Parachuting Championships. The organizers chose a local sports complex for the venue, shuttling competitors between three locations: a competitor/spectator area, local airport, and an off-field landing area. For most athletes, the venue was amazing: Four great Caravans, a beautiful climb to altitude, and the nicest landing surface most have ever experienced.

The VFS competition featured some veteran teams from countries like Canada, Norway, Russia, UK, and US, as well as some younger teams from Sweden and Finland. The local Australian team was somewhere in the middle, with some seasoned team members, as well as some who were new to the world stage.

SDC Core got off to a strong start and never looked back. They ended the meet 41 points ahead, with a respectable 21.7 average. Although the race for first place was never really close, four teams had exciting races for the 2nd/3rd and 4th/5th places. Australia jumped out to an early lead for the #2 spot, with a super strong first round.

The next seven rounds saw a tight race between Australia and Canada, with each team taking a few points back and forth. In Round 9 and Round 10 they traded again, but Canada had built a 7-point lead after Round 8. Although Australia made up three points in an exciting last round, they were not able to close the gap. Canada finished 2nd with a 17.6 average, and Australia 3rd, with 17.2. Considering the Aussie team was at a 12-average level in 2016, this is a tremendous accomplishment for them.

The battle for 4th place saw another back-and-forth race between two seasoned teams: Norway and Russia. Russia saw the effects of a limited training budget, and despite very strong fliers, had some scores in the middle of the meet that didn't meet their expectations.

Norway showed confident rounds and managed to build a 4-point lead after seven rounds. The Russians were able to bounce back and posted solid scores in the last three rounds to take the 4th position by five points. Russia finished with a 14.1 average, and Norway 13.6. The field was rounded out by the British team in 6th place (12.0), Sweden in 7th (9.5), and Finland in 8th place. These represent the newer competitors in 4-way VFS, and we'll look forward to seeing them again in Tanay 2020.

For the first time at a world level competition, Meet Director Brian Burke let the VFS teams take a break in the afternoon, so that for most teams, the sun didn't cause any judging problems. This was quite an accomplishment, considering the weather was a constant consideration, with clouds and rain forecasted most days. Nice job, Brian!

Overall, a great meet! Sadly, team Evolution from Canada called this their last competition. The VFS world will certainly miss such a talented and friendly group of guys. However, we'll be looking forward to continued growth in the discipline with some upcoming dive pool changes, hopefully setting the stage for a showdown in Siberia in 2020!