posted Oct 18th, 2026 - Sven Ibens and Andy Grauwels were teammates in the original HayaBusa lineup in 2003, alongside David Grauwels, Roy Janssen, and Bruno van den Eede on camera. Today, Sven Ibens is the CEO of VIGIL, a manufacturer of automatic activation devices (AADs), while Andy Grauwels serves as head coach of Qatar’s 4-way delegation. Andy Grauwels has four world championship titles to his credit, won in 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2021.

Neither is actively competing as a skydiver at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026. However, Andy Grauwels is busy preparing Qatar’s current national 4-way Open team, Vortex, for the competition and guiding the team through its ten rounds. He and his team also attended the USPA Nationals 2026 as a guest team in the 4-way Advanced Class event. Andy Grauwels also made time to join NSL Live Talk on September 15th.

Sven Ibens has a special reason of his own to visit Skydive Arizona. His son, Siem Ibens, whose mother is Annelies Hasewinkel-Ibens, is the youngest member of the Dutch national 4-way Open team, Out Of The Blue (OOTB). The NSL News has mentioned Siem Ibens several times in its coverage between the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2025 and the beginning of the previews for this year’s outdoor world championship. For Siem Ibens, this is his first outdoor world championship. Both of his parents, however, have competed at outdoor world championship events during their own skydiving careers.

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NSL Live Talk: Sven Ibens - Andy Grauwels on Saturday, October 17th

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Andy Grauwels had wrapped up his coaching duties by Saturday, allowing Sven Ibens to enjoy some private family time in Eloy and follow the competition alongside his wife. The former HayaBusa teammates, who competed together from 2003 to 2006, happily accepted the invitation to join NSL Live Talk. They looked back fondly on their time together more than 20 years ago while demonstrating how closely they still follow the 4-way competition at Skydive Arizona.

Andy Grauwels’ brother, David Grauwels, was also an original HayaBusa teammate of Andy and Sven. He continues to train and compete with NMP PCH HayaBusa following the team’s transition from civilian 4-way competition with Spa HayaBusa to the professional military environment. David Grauwels may have competed at more consecutive FAI 4-way outdoor world championships than any other athlete in formation skydiving history.

He has been a member of HayaBusa since the team was founded in 2003. He won outdoor world championship gold medals alongside his brother Andy in 2014, 2016, and 2018 before moving to the camera slot in 2021 and winning another gold medal. He has remained HayaBusa’s videographer ever since, filming the team at the next three world championships: Eloy in 2022, Crystal Coast in 2024, and now Eloy in 2026. David Grauwels and HayaBusa team captain Dennis Praet could equal Mark Kirkby’s record of five 4-way world championship titles next week in Eloy. They could then move into the outright lead in 2028, although only Dennis Praet would be competing in front of the camera. Meanwhile, Alex Grauwels, the father of Andy and David, is missing the world championship in Eloy for the first time in many years.

FAI World Meet 2006 - Top 10			1	2	3	4	5	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		N,20,16	K,J,C,G,3	D,19,B,6	L,14,10	F,17,M,2	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Fire	US	20	27	25	17	28	117	23.4
2	Gap Nice Icarius Autrement	FR	17	25	23	21	25	111	22.2
3	Sinapsi PD	IT	19	26	22	19	24	110	22.0
4	Sky Panthers Barkli	RU	21	23	23	17	25	109	21.8
5	Arcteryx	NO	18	25	21	17	24	105	21.0
6	Spa HayaBusa	BE	19	25	18	17	23	102	20.4
7	EADS	DE	17	23	20	16	18	94	18.8
8	Danez	DK	15	22	15	17	21	90	18.0
9	Spain	ES	16	18	17	14	19	84	16.8
9	Evolution	CA	15	14	19	14	22	84	16.8

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Spa HayaBusa with Sven Ibens in 2005

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FAI Outdoor 4-way Open Class World Champions between 1985 and 2024

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