Two dates announced for 2018’s FAI Swoop Freestyle World Championships calendar

By Faustine Carrera, Lausanne, June 28, 2018: Following the highly successful inaugural Championships in 2017, two FAI Swoop Freestyle World Championships will take place this year.

Both events scheduled for 2018 will be held in easily-accessible urban locations to increase public interest and attendance: Copenhagen (DEN), 24-25th August and San Diego (USA) 14-15th September.

Swoop – Freestyle Canopy Piloting – is a high-impact, adrenalin-fuelled discipline, involving parachutists flying at high-speed across a body of water (“the Pond”) to score points based on style and execution. Usually held on airfields – parachute drop zones away from the public eye, the FAI is working with the organiser A. Sports to showcase the new sport.

FAI President Frits Brink commented: “The high-adrenalin sport of swoop is growing rapidly in popularity and is a thrilling spectator sport.

Following the success of 2017’s inaugural Swoop Freestyle World Championships, the FAI is delighted to work with A. Sports again to showcase the sport at the two international events in 2018.”

George Stribling Blythe, CEO of A. Sports, organisers of Swoop Freestyle FAI World Championships, commented: “We have a vision for the sport and its future that we are delighted to be realising with FAI.

We are appealing to a new generation of sports consumers, brands, media and hosting cities. For us the sky is no longer the limit.”

The organisation of the events will be the responsibility of A. Sports, while the FAI will sanction the competitions and is helping to develop the rules. The agreement was signed in 2017 for an initial three-year period.

Other responsibilities that the FAI and the FAI Parachuting Commission (IPC) will hold include:

• Assisting in the appointment of qualified judges
• Appointing an international jury and jury president
• Provide technical staff
• Helping with scoring and ranking
• Providing advice regarding medals and trophies
• Social media and reporting

18 competitors from 11 countries will attend both events.

Technical detail Swoop Freestyle World Championships
Freestyle Swooping is an air sports discipline that involves competitors flying at high speeds across a body of water in order to score points based on style and execution.

Each competition round, the athletes jump out of a helicopter at 1500m/5000 ft altitude, then release the canopy straight away, before navigating towards the water surface (Swoop Freestyle World Championships).

Starting 600m/2000ft above the landing area, they start a series of turns up to 1080 degrees in order to generate great speeds of up to 150 km/90 miles per hour; they use the speeds to propel themselves into executing highly technical freestyle moves across the body of water, prior to landing on the floating platform (Swoop Freestyle World Championships).

Facts
Swoop Freestyle World Championships 2018, Copenhagen – first leg of the world championships

• Training and Swoop Night Lights on Friday August 24, Qualifying and Finals on Saturday August 25
• Location: Peblinge Lake, Queen Louise’s Bridge, Copenhagen Denmark
• 18 parachute pilots from 11 countries
• The first ever world championship in freestyle swooping was held here in 2017

San Diego – second and final leg of the world championships

• Training and Swoop Night Lights Friday September 14, Qualifying and Finals Saturday September 15
• Location: Embarcadero Marina Park South, San Diego USA
• 18 parachute pilots from 11 countries
• This marks the first international step for the Swoop Freestyle FAI World Championships platform, from its conception last summer in downtown Copenhagen
• This is where the 2018 world champion will be crowned

About FAI
FAI, the World Air Sports Federation is the world governing body for air sports and for certifying world aviation and space records. The FAI was founded in 1905 and is a non-governmental and non-profit-making organisation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

FAI activities include Aerobatics, Aeromodelling, Airships, Amateur-Built and Experimental Aircraft, Balloons, Drones, Gliding, Hang Gliding, Helicopters, Manpowered Flying, Micro lights, Parachuting, Paragliding, Paramotors, Power Flying and all other Aeronautic activities and Space records.