posted Oct 31st, 2011 - The first day of the USPA Nationals 2011 is over, and seven rounds are in the bag. SDC Rhythm XP is the Team of the Day, and Arizona Airspeed is the leader. Rhythm was not expected to be in 2nd place, while Airspeed is doing what needed to get done. The Arizona team is as far ahead as the Airspeed fans hoped for to make a point as of the Dubai issue. Rhythm is the new generation of 4way competitors who begin to challenge the established teams very seriously.

The competition is even tighter in the Advanced Class and in the Intermediate Class. There is no team that dominates the competition and the leaderboard in either category, the races for the medal positions are wide open after Round 7. The second day and the last three rounds will just be as exciting tomorrow as they were today.

In fact, they will probably be even more exciting. The teams hardly had time to follow the leaderboard carefully, as the meet was rolling along quickly and smoothly. That will be different tomorrow morning when everybody knows exactly what the positions are. The pressure will be even bigger on the second day of the meet.

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The NSL News had the opportunity to wrap up the day with the most experienced and most successful 4way competitor at the dropzone, Arizona Airspeed veteran Mark Kirkby.

The conversation began with a message from Belgium. There was no doubt that NMP-PCH Hayabusa and Aerodyne Aerokart would follow the competition very carefully.

Hayabusa's Center Inside David Grauwels showed how much attention they pay. He and his team watched the NSL Reality TV video that included the explosion next to the Airspeed headquarters yesterday and Airspeed's humorous way how to deal with the situation. Mark Kirkby and Niklas Hemlin suspected the French or the Belgian team trying to distract Airspeed by planting a bomb.

David Grauwels responded for Hayabusa in an even funnier way: "If we had something to do with the blast from yesterday Airspeed would not be jumping today." The Hayabusa members are military experts...

The Hayabusa response caused a good laugh in the Airspeed quarters, and Mark Kirkby commented the Hayabusa greetings during the NSL Talk.

He has his own connection to the military, as he is recently fund raising for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. The NSL News reported in earlier stories that Mark Kirkby is a running fanatic. He has completed 50- and 100-mile races in the past and continues with even more challenging projects.

This time, he even created his own event with a 150-mile run for the fund raising goal. He tries to collect $15,000 and is getting closer. However, he is now looking for support in the skydiving community.

Potential sponsors can donate at Mark Kirkby's webpage.