posted Aug 24th, 2008 - It took only one day until the scores from Russia were already replaced by scores from the United Kingdom.

The national championship was on the UK agenda, and the participation confirmed once again that the United Kingdom is slowly becoming a powerhouse of Formation Skydiving competition.

UK Teams have already dominated the world wide 4-way competition in the female category for quite a while. Bodyflight Storm continued the tradition this year with the gold medals at the World Meet 2008.

However, the 2008 season was not over yet for the new female world champions Hannah Betts (Center Inside), Claire "Sparky" Scott (Center Outside), Sarah Smith (Point), Kate Stephens (Tail) and videographer Gary Wainwright.

They had mentioned already in the live interview with the NSL News from Maubeuge that there was still an important meet coming up.

Bodyflight Storm had to fend off the other strong female lineup of Team Elan (Emma Beyer, Julia Foxwell, Tarnya Hollis, Amanda Kemp) at the national championship of 2007. This year, three ladies with a male competitor in the Tail slot were eagerly waiting for the same Storm lineup coming back from France.

Satori (Julia Foxwell - Center Outside, Liz Matthews - Center Inside, Katie Woods - Point, Aaron Faith - Tail, with Ian Ridpath on camera) was well prepared for the showdown with Bodyflight Storm at Target Skysports this weekend.

Both teams had met each other live on competition site only once this year before the national championship.

Bodyflight Bedford was the first place of direct confrontation during the World Challenge 2008. Satori won the indoor competition (22.9 - 22.6) by three points. Satori had already impressed the 4-way community with an 18.9 average at the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2008 and added very respectable scores in May (17.5) and June (17.3) in preparation for the UK Nationals 2008.

The 17.6 average after ten rounds this weekend was still not quite enough to really challenge the confident new world champions. Bodyflight Storm allowed Satori to win two rounds (8 and 9) but was never seriously threatened with the team's 18.8 winning average.

This was the third consecutive time now that a female lineup won the Open Class championship in the United Kingdom (Airkix in 2006, Bodyflight Storm in 2007 and 2008). This time, Bodyflight Storm does not have to decide which competition class to compete in at the next World Championship. However, there is a World Cup coming up in 2009, which may raise the same question.

Satori will probably continue and challenge Bodyflight Storm again next year. The UK Nationals 2009 will be the qualification event for the World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2010. The situation next year could be very similar compared to 2007 and 2008.

UK's national team of 2008 in the Open Class, Fusion, currently in the claimed but unproven possession of the Fun Flag, finished significantly stronger (14.2 - 12.7) compared to the World Meet 2008 in Maubeuge. It was still only good enough for the third place at the UK Nationals 2008.

The next three teams on the AAA Class leaderboard of the UK Nationals 2008, Wingnutz (12.6), Sonic V (11.8) and Bonobo (11.6), are giving evidence of the team progression through the four competition classes. All three teams competed in a lower competition class last year and had moved up in 2008, Sonic V even with a double step. The second season in the Open Class next year will probably see the new challengers on a significantly higher scoring level.

The winning team in the AA Class, Phobia, is another British example of excellent progression through the competition classes. Laura Batterbee (Center Inside), Richard Head (Center Outside), Kate Morris (Tail) and Graham Wilkins (Point) spent the 2006 season in the Rookie Class, competed in the A Class last year and now won the UK Nationals 2008 in the AA Class with a 14.8 average. The first year in the AAA Class is probably coming up for Phobia.

The all-female Kaizen lineup (Rai Ahmed, Liz Ashley, Liz Cass, Jo Hawley), a newly formed team this year, gave Phobia a great competition, especially throughout the first six rounds, lost the meet only in the last two rounds and finished with a 14.4 average. Frenzy, as Phobia coming from the Rookie Class in 2006 and the A Class in 2007, won the UK bronze medals with a 13.1 average.

The two best teams of nine in the A Class had already battled with each other earlier this year, as well. The Strangers had attended each of the three UKSL meets (11.3 - 12.0 - 10.3) in 2008. Exodus competed at the June meet and lost by one single point (62 - 61, 10.3 - 10.2) after six rounds.

Exodus came to the UK Nationals 2008 on a completely different scoring level (13.8) and won easily by 23 points, while the Strangers won the silver medals with a 10.9 average after eight rounds.

The three Rookie Class teams that had battled with each other at the three previous meets of the United Kingdom Skydiving League, Burble, Zero Degrees and Innuendo, had to accept that two new Rookie Class lineups stole the two top spots at the UK Nationals 2008, ADHD and Jet Blondes.

Zero Degrees had won all three earlier meets this year slightly ahead of Burble each time. Burble turned the table at the right time and won the bronze medals at the national championship with a 12.9 average.

A total of 16 teams competed in the Rookie Class this year and set a new participation record. The Rookie Class was the most popular category at the UK Nationals 2008 with 16 teams and promises even more for the future of Formation Skydiving competition in the United Kingdom.