Skydive Empuriabrava’s beach party is going off! The mouth of La Muga has been transformed into a carnival atmosphere with wind blades, bouncy castle, sun loungers, giant Tv screen, palm trees, entertainment, stalls, cocktails and more. DJ Cheryl, the one woman walking party, is spinning non stop happy tunes, keeping the feet tapping and the guys happy with the view 😉 Regan Tetlow is geeing up the crowd with his cheerful banter and lively interviews. Colourful kite surfs circle lazily overhead, bright windsurfers are on the river and children play on the sandy beach.
This is the magical setting for the King of Swoop event, run by Skydive Empuriabrava, Between competition rounds there are tandems jumping onto the beach, and usually some air show entertainment. A giant Catalan flag of yellow and red is jumped in daily by Richie Pym, with JetMan Dubai circling round it. Every day there is a draw to win a free tandem jump, a popular move with the crowd. The winner has to be there when the draw is done, or the management keep re-drawing until the recipient is there in person to collect the prize. The Soul Flyers are making beautiful displays with wingsuits and smoke, then landing right on the cross in front of the crowd. This is entertainment with a capital E!
King of Swoop Rules
Skydive Empuriabrava has made a great effort to communicate the sport to the public, with diagrams and animations that explain the principles of Speed, Distance and – always the difficult one for the crowd to comprehend – Zone Accuracy, where competitors must drag their foot in the water for a succession of gates, and then try to make a stand-up landing in the marked-out box, for the jackpot, a maximum score of 100 points. In all three disciplines the maximum scores is 100, and the other scores are a percentage of the winning scores for that round. Regan is doing a fine job of talking the crowd through the animations and explaining what is going on. There are some very nice touches such as a video of each competitor saying hello, displayed with their name and country flag, helping the crowd identify the athletes and choose a favourite. There is a Live Stream running that looks like mini TV, with interviews and commentary as well as the competition runs.
Speed competition
A lot of the competitors missed the gate in their first round, even such accomplished flyers as Jeannie Bartholomew, Gage Galle, Brian Vacher, Guillaume Bernier and Max Bruffell. … Brian retired from the competition after one run, due to sickness. The geography of the beach means the course can only be entered from one direction. The sun is often right in competitors’ eyes and is compounded by the reflection off the water. This combined with a strong wind makes it a little more challenging to make the entry gates.
Pablo Hernandez won the first speed round, then Nicholas Batsch the second, while Thomas Dellibac won the third. The Speed finished after 3 rounds, with USA’s Nicholas Batsch at the top of the tree, followed by Pablo Hernandez for Spain in second, and Curt Bartholomew in third for USA. Julien Guiho and Brice Bernier just behind, in fourth and fifth places for France, then Wuzi Wagner for Austria, followed by UAE athletes Cornelia Mihai and Billy Sharman.
Full Scores are
here
Prize Money
Although it’s always a buzz to finish in the top three, it’s not so relevant when it comes to the big prize money, which are for overall standings not individual disciplines. The field of 29 competitors are fighting for a share in $45,000 of prize money (€ 33,000), which will be divided among the top 10 finishers overall, with $ 15,000 for first place, $10,000 for second, and $7,000 for third, and progressively smaller amounts for the 7 competitors following just behind. This means that consistency is key. One bad round out of the 9 competition jumps will be enough to take away the potential for prize money, as the overall placings are made by adding all the points together. Trophies will still be awarded to the top three in each discipline of Speed, Distance and Zone Accuracy, with a gold crown on display for the ultimate ‘King of Swoop’.
Zone Accuracy
The first round of Zone Accuracy saw current leader Nick Batsch, and Wuzi Wagner joint leading the round; that should bring Wuzi up some places overall. It’s now Thursday 24 July, and the competitors are on a stand-down till 5pm Spanish time, due to tasty winds that are probably jumpable but not pleasant, not likely to make for high scores.
Follow Progress
The Live Stream and more details on the competition can be found here.
