World-class tunnel athletes descended on Helsinki for two days of fierce racing, freestyle battles, and at least one trip to the hospital
During the past five years, athletes from Northern Europe and beyond have gathered in Helsinki for the Fööni Open to battle for the medals in different categories of Indoor Skydiving. Fööni, nestled right in the downtown of Helsinki with metro access and an airport close by, is a super easy location to visit for the athletes, not to mention the ISG air quality, pro flyer friendly atmosphere and pricing.
Even though in the past Fööni Open has also served as Nordic Championships and Finnish Nationals, this year it was simply an open competition with world class competitors. Flyers measured their skills in seven different disciplines: Solo Speed, D2W, D2W Intermediate, D4W, Freestyle Open, Freestyle Intermediate and FS4.
Full House at Fööni
Competition rounds for this two-day event kicked off on the 27th of February, and Fööni’s bar-like viewing gallery was packed with audience, competitors, and a great atmosphere.
A proud freestyle coach Agnieszka Rawinis from Poland was at Fööni supporting her students. Junior Freestyle Champion Laura Tlatlik, 12, and Oliver Rassad, 10, both competed in the open category despite their age. “We chose this category to face stronger competition and challenge both flyers by competing against some adult athletes,” Agnieszka explains. The future of freestyle looks promising, as Laura placed second after the powerful and flexible world class freestyle competitor Flavien Poulenard, and Oliver took fourth after another experienced adult competitor, Jukka Siivola.
In the Intermediate category, first-time competitor and another one of Agnieszka’s students, Monika Socha Jakubowska from Poland, climbed to the highest podium. The success came as a happy surprise, as the goal was just to gather competition experience, says Agnieszka.
Solo Speed Delivers the Unexpected
Fourteen participants measured their skills in Solo Speed, the list of competitors including fast names such as Timmy Dittrich and Christian Kaufmann from Germany, Carlotta Sella from Italy and Finland’s own Jere Byman. The battles took a dramatic turn during the quarter finals when Carlotta, better known as Totta, and her dear frenemy and ex-teammate Dennis Castioni were flying against each other. Totta exited fast in head up, and ended up breaking her ankle as her leg hit the bench of the antichamber.
“We both were ready to push to the limit and see who wins. I did not slow down at the door to make sure I was that one tenth faster. I got a displaced fracture in my tibia and ankle, but at least I won the round,” describes Totta, who is known as a fierce competitor.
She was escorted to the hospital by her boyfriend Jere Byman, which meant that two of the fan favorites were out of the competition. However, there were still lightning-fast flyers left to battle for the spots in the final, where Christian Kaufmann beat local rising star Juho Suomela by 0.136 seconds accumulated over the two final rounds flown, an insanely tight battle.
“For me this was the highest level of competition I have been to and the highest placement at a competition as well. I’m really happy to have gone toe to toe with flyers I view as some of the best,” Juho says.
Formation Flying and Local Talent
He also made it to the podium with his D4W team FlyHelsinki, with fellow Finns Iiris Erikkilä, Lassi Lehesvuo and Jere Byman. They finished second after Try Hard 2.0 and are now focusing on training for the World Cup held in France this April. It’s always a good sign to see a lot of the local instructors competing. At Fööni, they understand the value of having skilled in-house instructors and support their training accordingly.
Fööni also got to celebrate in D2W when Iiris Erkkilä and Lassi Lehesvuo, team Fööni Cakes, climbed to the podium taking second place after Flytopia, a German team that has been representing their country at world meets for years. Third place went to team Bodyflight, unfortunately without a final battle for it, as Totta and Jere were unable to fly their last round due to Totta’s injury.
Having a D2W Intermediate category available during a competition is a great way of encouraging up-and-coming athletes and new competitors to take part and fly battles against similar-level opponents. The gold medal of this event was taken home by two flyers who also competed against each other in the Freestyle category, Jukka Siivola and Oliver Rassad, as team Aerofusion.
With VFS not present this year, the only formation discipline was FS4, with all Finnish teams competing against each other. Team Hot Grips! took home the gold, followed by Nääslätsi in second and Sirkus in third.
Looking Ahead
Fööni Open has established its position as one of the top competitions of the spring season in Europe, with perfect timing just ahead of the World Championships or World Cup each year, making it possible for athletes to use the event as part of their preparation process. Fööni is looking forward to hosting again in 2027 and warmly welcomes all international participants to join the fun and battles!
Results
Solo Speed GOLD: 307 – Christian Kaufmann (GER) SILVER: 301 – Juho Suomela (FIN) BRONZE: 308 – Timmy Dittrich (GER)
D2W GOLD: 404 Flytopia Windobona Berlin (GER) SILVER: 407 Fööni Cakes (FIN) BRONZE: 401 Bodyflight (INT)
D4W Open GOLD: 502 – Try Hard 2.0 (INT) SILVER: 501 – Fööni FlyHelsinki (FIN) BRONZE: 503 – 3Chicks1cock (INT)
Solo Freestyle Open GOLD: 207 – Flavien Poulenard (FRA) SILVER: 202 – Laura Tlatlik (POL) BRONZE: 206 – Jukka Siivola (FIN)
Solo Freestyle Intermediate GOLD: 703 – Monica Jakubowska (POL) SILVER: 701 – Patryk Dziuba (POL) BRONZE: 702 – Tristan Rao (EST)
D2W Intermediate GOLD: 602 – Aerofusion (INT) SILVER: 603 – W!inx of Flystation (GER) BRONZE: 604 – Heli ja Viivi (FIN)
FS4 Open GOLD: 105 – Hot Grips! (FIN) SILVER: 102 – Nääslätsi (FIN) BRONZE: 104 – Sirkus (FIN)
