posted Jul 19th, 2005 - The NSL News provided feedback by the four US top teams that competed at the Malevsky Cup 2005 after interviews with Airspeed's Kirk Verner, DeLand Fire's Gary Smith and Fastrax members John Hart and Niklas Hemlin. Next step was to follow up with feedback from the two remaining US 2005 top contenders, DeLand Majik and the Golden Knights.

The NSL News met in DeLand with DeLand Majik's new Point, David van Greuningen, while Solly Williams and Doug Park travel in Europe and Robert Healy works his normal job in Tampa, Florida. David van Greuningen followed the NSL News coverage of the Malevsky Cup very carefully and was well prepared for the Majik feedback. The second phase of the Malevsky Cup follow-up will be completed soon with feedback from Golden Knight John Hoover.

NSL News: David, two of your Georgia Tech alumni and former Genesis/PD Blue teammates, Ian Bobo and Shannon Pilcher, are on the top of the world after the Malevsky Cup 2005. Are you happy for them?

David van Greuningen: Absolutely, I am happy for them. Ian has not been competing much in 4-way recently and Shannon has done a great job jumping into the Inside Center slot. Both of them are excellent skydivers and it was nice to watch both of them compete at such a high level and help bring the Malevsky Cup back to DeLand.

NSL News: You have been off the top 4-way radar for a while, too. Does it feel good for you to be back?

David van Greuningen: Yes! It feels very good to be back at this level again, and I am fortunate to be able to skydive with a team like Majik. It was a very useful hiatus for me though, especially in terms of maturity within the sport. After three seasons away from Open Class 4-way, I am a little older and wiser, and as a result a more mature competitor who is capable of performing at a higher level than before.

NSL News: Why does Genesis not get back together on that high level?

David van Greuningen: (Laughs) How come that question does not surprise me, Kurt? There has been some talk of that in the past, but all of the necessary factors have never aligned. Each of the team members is in a different place in his life. Ian and Shannon are very focused on canopy piloting and have set very high goals for themselves in that discipline. Competing with DeLand Fire allows them to explore those goals, and I commend them for pursuing them. Kyle has been in Graduate school and is finishing up his PhD. That requires an immense amount of dedication. Training at the top 4-way level would interfere with those educational goals at this time.

NSL News: You will compete head to head directly against Ian and Shannon very soon for the one and only slot as the US national team. It will be a very tough competition. How does that feel in regards of the relationship with your friends?

David van Greuningen: I think it sparks the competitive fire for all of us including the “Viking”, our 2001 PD BLUE teammate Niklas Hemlin, who will compete with Fastrax. However, except for two Shamrock Showdowns in 2002 and 2004, it has been many years since we competed together. For me, it is not about competing against them but more about performing at Majik’s optimum while competing against the entire field of other teams. With six teams in position to be very competitive with each other, it is certainly one of the most competitive years ever in U.S. Open Class 4-way and it is exciting to be a part of it.

NSL News: Let's go back to the Malevsky Cup 2005 results now, and let us know, please, what you think about the four US teams that we already saw competing in Russia.

David van Greuningen: The Malevsky Cup was a very exciting and telling meet. I wasn't there, but thanks to the excellent NSL News coverage I felt like I was! Many of the teams were gaining and losing positions throughout the whole meet. The standings fluctuated from round to round, and it showed how competitive the US teams were with one another. Fastrax showed how one jump could gain a team several positions in the standings with their outstanding performance in rounds three and eight. I think the most impressive thing overall is that all four U.S. teams showed great skydives. However, DeLand Fire's consistency throughout the meet stands out above all else. Fire left a few points on the table, but not many. Their confidence can only go up after such consistency at both the Shamrock Showdown and Malevsky Cup. Both Airspeed teams lost points due to busts, and Fastrax also had a few hiccups along the way that cost them points. Airspeed and Fastrax will train a lot more than Fire from here on out. It will be interesting to see how this training affects things at the USPA Championship 2005. I don't think that Fire will lose any ground in terms of their own performance, but Airspeed and Fastrax should gain in performance with additional training.

NSL News: Why did DeLand Majik not try to defend the title in Russia this year?

David van Greuningen: The current Majik line-up was formed in February 2005 and has trained on a very limited basis. We made a decision as a team that we are not at a place in our training where we felt prepared to compete on the Malevsky Cup stage.

NSL News: You competed at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2005 in March...

David van Greuningen: The meets are not comparable. The Shamrock Showdown is a local meet for Deland Majik and one that our project believes is important to continually support. We showed that support by competing there after only 79 training jumps and with Solly and Doug coaching multiple teams. Attending the Malevsky Cup in Russia during July presented a bigger logistical commitment and came at a time in our training where it made more sense for us not to compete there. I hope to see the Majik project back in Russia in 2006.

NSL News: Where do you see the missing two contenders, DeLand Majik and the Golden Knights in the scenario we talked about before?

David van Greuningen: The Knights are the team to beat. They proved last year that they are capable of competing on a very high level, they have made no changes to their line-up, and they have had a full training season.

NSL News: DeLand Fire beat the Golden Knights at this year's Shamrock Showdown. How did that happen?

David van Greuningen: Fire outscored the Golden Knights (laughs). Seriously, the Shamrock was in March and came at a point in the training season where teams wanted an early testing of the waters. The Knights have proven over the years that they are very good at focusing on one primary competition; this meet is the USPA Nationals in Perris. I have no doubt that they learned a lot from the competition with Fire. Their performance will be extremely competitive and they will be tough to beat in Perris.

NSL News: What about DeLand Majik?

David van Greuningen: I think we will be running with the pack. Looking at what happened in Russia I believe Majik to be very capable of at least those scores. We have to be realistic about our training as a team, but I believe we have a very talented line-up and we will certainly skydive to the best of our capabilities. Having said all of that and looking at how competitive the Malevsky Cup was for the US teams, nationals will be anyone’s meet to win or lose. NSL News: What is Majik's schedule from here until the USPA Championship 2005?

David van Greuningen: We start training in DeLand on August 15th. We will train until the 28th, and we will do about three more hours of tunnel training at SkyVenture Orlando before the nationals.

NSL News: How does the new Majik line-up feel in the air at this point?

David van Greuningen: It has taken us quite a number of jumps to get settled in. Solly has a new slot and none of us has done a significant amount of 4-way jumps with each other. So far we have made approximately 250 training jumps this year. During our last camp in June, we felt that things were slowly starting to come together. During our initial training, we spent a lot of time ironing out technical issues like blocks and exits, and just getting comfortable flying with each other. Most teams go through this training process in phases, but out of necessity we have had to take a somewhat different approach to our training because we knew we would not get much airtime.

NSL News: What is that different approach?

David van Greuningen: We did not have time to spool up the training as most teams do. There were not many training blocks to work with on our schedule. As a result, we had to jump right into working on multiple things at the same time, including rhythm, speed, fall-rate and block techniques. This kind of multi-layered, take-it-all-on-at-once approach would not work for every team. It's the overall experience of our team that allowed us to think that this approach would be successful.

NSL News: What do you think of Airspeed's new pursuit of the double gold? Is it possible?

David van Greuningen: Of course, it is possible. Airspeed proved that you could win both nationally in 1998, and although they came up just shy at the World Meet in Australia the following year they lit the candle of belief. I think the quest for both definitely adds a dimension of strain because the teams have to focus so heavily on training for and competing in both events. 4-way and 8-way also utilize unique and different skill sets. Although the 8-way competition at this year’s nationals may not be as close as what we saw in 1998, winning both events at the World Championships in 2006 would require that the teams be able to implement event specific training to effectively develop their respective skills sets. I have personally always admired the quest for double gold. I hope that this continues.

NSL News: Did you keep your eyes on the international competition in Russia, as well?

David van Greuningen: Yes, I did. My primary focus was on the US teams, but I definitely took an interest in several other teams. I was very curious to see the scores of Sinapsi, Hayabusa, Arcteryx and the Dutch team Punky Fish, as they have all trained here in DeLand. Many of the Majik and Fire members have gotten to know these players and collectively we have coached most of them as well.

NSL News: Who do you expect to be the strongest opponents for the US teams this year at the World Cup in Eloy and next year at the World Meet in Germany?

David van Greuningen: I think Belgium has been coming on strong; their showing in Russia impressed me. I don't see a reason why Spa Hayabusa would not be very competitive by next year's world meet. Hopefully, Russia can sort out their sanctioning issues. Whatever happens, there will be a strong Russian contender. However, in the end I think the Italians will be the strongest contender, regardless of how the eligibility situation ends up being interpreted. They might not be allowed to compete at the world meet, but Sinapsi PD should still be one of the strongest international contenders.

NSL News: What do you think of this eligibility issue?

David van Greuningen: I think that the rule is, and has been, pretty clear with the three-year timeframe. However, with the World Meet cycle change in 2003 and 2004 unforeseen eligibility issues have arisen. As a result, we have to consider the spirit and intent of the rules. I am not sure about the exact date, but the 1095 days of ineligibility will be up within a few weeks of the opening ceremony in Germany. If the 2006 world meet had been held at a different location in the world and/or at a later date we would probably not be having this discussion, and Pete Allum would be eligible for Italy. Personally, when considering all of the factors that led to this issue, I believe a further review of the matter by the appropriate parties is warranted.

NSL News: Thank you for the interview, David.

David van Greuningen: You’re welcome Kurt, and thanks for the coffee.