The current World Champion Canopy Formation team consists of two tiny French girls, Charline Delay and Cindy Collot, with Kevin Techer on camera. Charline is a cardio-vascular surgeon working in Strasbourg, while her team-mate Condy is a nurse in her native Besancon. We asked coach Patrice Girardin to talk to us about what makes this team so amazing…
##What makes the team so special?
They train a lot. There is no magic. All the champions on the podium train a lot, Everyone can reach 90 per cent of the other teams’ performance but to get to the top you have to devote everything in your life to it; fitness, mental energy, your life, and it must be your total passion…They are very good to train and to adapt themselves. They are very strong. Charline is a surgeon. When I was training her many years ago, she was studying for 15 hours a day to pass her exams. They would spend the day training with many jumps, then when everyone else went to the bar then Charline focussed on her studies to be a surgeon, while Cindy was studying to be a nurse. It is a lot of work, and shows great strength of character.
##How long have they been doing canopy formation?
They have been training for long time, they started jumping in 2005, and after they qualified, they started immediately with CF. The drop zone where they did their first jump, Besançon, in France, is known for canopy formation. Because the DZ knew they had other air traffic at high altitudes they focused on making an excellent facility for CF, so a lot of the top guys jump there. The girls started with 4-way junior sequential, with others (3 girls and a boy), the aim was to give them CF culture and knowledge… After 4 years one girl stepped down, the guy went to the 4-way rotations team, which he is still part of today, and Cindy & Charline made a 2-way team. They were very good in the beginning because they had lots of time flying together. We made the choice 3 years ago to allow them just to do the 2-way, not to be involved in 4 and 8 way competition. At this level you need absolutely to be concentrate on one discipline.
##When did they reach the very top of the CF world?
In Banja Luka, Bosnia,when they became World Champions. For a few years they were good but not consistent .. they could break a record on one jump but the one after they could make a big shit! So we waited for them to become consistent. It’s like a nursery, we do not allow them to run before they can walk. When they were good enough we sent them to the World Championships in Banja Luka. There they won against Clean Air, the very good US team. They led right from the start every round they beat all of the other teams. On paper Russian, Sweden, Australia, US and France could all have won but the girls quickly showed their form.
##What did winning the World Air Games mean to them?
It is always difficult for such a good team to keep motivation between competitions so the World Air Games was a great opportunity to keep them performing at a very high level and to test the way they fly together. The World Championships in Chicago, 2017 is their goal – the WAG was an intermediate target. They were very pleased with their competition performance, they lead all the way and didn’t even have to do the last jump to win. This high level of performance in competition was more important to them than winning – although, of course, the girls always compete to win!
“We are very clear in what we need to do at each competition. In the past 10 years we have been through a lot of trials and hardships, simply because we have strayed into a sport that is predominantly played by men. But we will not give up. We have more than 2,500 jumps together as a pair, and each and every time we compete it is with just one aim in mind, and that is to win”
Charline Delay
##How do they gel together, are they similar?
They are two different characters but in the air they are really a team, no-one is leading, they are like two persons for one mind. Of course they think differently about some things; for example, what canopies they should jump, they have reflections and discussions, then make a decision. Now they are happy with their partnership with PD, they provide a good product and they can grow with this company. They jump the Storm 70-80 square feet, it’s perfect for them.
##Is it unusual for women to excel or even to compete in Canopy Formation?
No not at all, even when I started jumping there was a girl in the US team. The top Australian team has a female, the French rotation team, has 3 girls and 2 boys, it is very open for women and they can be superb.
##How do they manage to be World Champions when they have jobs to hold down, do they get help?
Of course they get help from the [French] Federation, ultimately from the government, they have a private sponsor and of course the DZ Besançon, they have their diamonds, they are very proud of their champions. It’s easier to handle a 2-way team than a larger one, they can be flexible, can change plans easily. Now with the title of World Champion their bosses are sympathetic with their time, they love to have such a person working for them, it’s a talking point and it shows great strength of character
##What’s the biggest challenge they face now?
The vital point is how to keep the team together with the same feeling, this is the challenge. They are prepared for life’s changes and to stay together through whatever happens. The World Championships in Chicago is their goal. They want to win again and have a better average. Their target is to reduce their penalties. Here they had one bust but they want to be perfect and to raise their game. Right now they are like two dogs that have hold of a bone and they don’t want to give this bone to anyone!
Round 2 of the World Air Games, Dubai, where the team scored 29 points (30 with one bust)
