This year’s turnout for freestyle just goes to show how fads and fashions come back around! It was impressive to see 7 teams entering and an inspiration to make you want to try a different disicpline.
Freestyle is very much so the elegant, gymnastic version of freefly. It’s all about being flexible and fluid, making clear, clean movements… so when I first mentioned being interested giving freestyle a go I got laughed at 🙁 I guess I’m not exactly elegant or flexible, but I was keen to experience a different style of freefly. The idea of going to Nationals seemed quite intimidating but, hey, what have you seriously got to lose? Everyone starts somewhere!
It was nice being around teams with a wealth of knowledge in this discipline, like Euphoria and Revolution. I was extremely lucky to have the legendary Tim Porter filming me. We had decided to go Nationals just 10 days before, did 1 ‘training’ jump and wanted to take part for the fun of it, gaining new experiences along the way. It was the first competition I was taking part in (beer!), on the other side of the camera for a change!
Every free round was different, mainly because we didn't actually have a routine !
Despite the weather not being on our side, spirits were still high. When it did show signs of lifting then the staff at Skydive Hibaldstow did a tremendous job of getting us up there! The weather holds were brilliant chances to chat to other competitors about this discipline I really know very little about, get any tips and learn more about what the judges want to see. Just watching other teams’ rounds was a push to try new tricks, watching how they keep that fluidity going from one move to the next.
After every jump it was fantastic to look around the landing area to see so many smiles from happy competitors! Being apart of such a positive atmosphere had a positive effect on our performance. Each round we were getting more adventurous trying different moves I hadn’t done before or some crazy exit. Every free round was different, mainly because we didn’t actually have a routine ! … but also because Tim wanted to throw in new tricks to spice it up a little.
Nationals 2014 Euphoria Freestyle Gold
By Andy Godwin
When the dust cleared Euphoria Freestyle picked up a well-earned gold medal in Freestyle A, at their highest-scoring competition so far, peaking with an 8 on on round – fantastic, and looking effortlessly elegant too. Revolution Freestyle improved on their scores from the World Meet in Prostejov. Emma and Jay are still finding their feet together, having tragically lost Ben from the team after a canopy accident grounded him. Shredder Freestyle are ones to watch out for in future, scoring well, but withdrawing on the Monday and leaving the bronze hardware for the newcomer.
Freestyle Nationals 2014 by Looby Smith-Wildey – Last Minute
It all felt a little daunting at first learning a new discipline but so much support and positive energy made the whole adventure worthwhile! The judges’ advice ‘pointy toes, pointy toes!’ was a good reminder for that nice stretched-out strong position! I am truly glad to have tried freestyle, it certainly made me want to work towards more of a cleaner position and how to make one move flow into the next. Hopefully we will see more teams freestylin’ in 2015!
Full scores at InTime Scoring
More story and photos at National Championships website
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