posted Oct 31st, 2022 - Anna Hicks is one of the original NFTO members, when the team was founded in 2015. She was probably already dreaming of the world championship title in 4-way Women when she started training and competing with her previous team in 2013, Bodyflight Isis. Ten years later, she was finally on the top of the world meet podium with NFTO.

British 4-way Women teams have played a major role in this event since it was added to the FAI World Championship of Formation Skydiving format in 2001. Three sets of FAI gold medals (2003, 2006, 2008) and silver medals in Menzelinsk 2010 had gone to Great Britain before Anna Hicks launched Isis in 2013, followed by the first NFTO lineup in 2015 (Ane Brentford, Laura James, Claire Scott).

The British delegation did not have a well trained 4-way Women team on the top level in Dubai 2012 and left without any medals after finishing in 4th place. Kaizen was back on the FAI podium in Prostejov 2014, after finishing ahead of Anna Hicks with Isis at the British Outdoor Nationals 2013.

Kaizen and Isis both did not continue at the end of the 2014 season, while Anna Hicks, Ane Brentford and Laura James joined forces with 4-way Women world champion of 2003, 2006 and 2008, Claire "Sparky" Scott for the first NFTO meet at the World Challenge in April. Former Kaizen member Rai Ahmed and Maria Russell then replaced Laura James and Claire Scott for the outdoor season. The start of NFTO was successful right away, as this lineup qualified for the next world meet at the British Outdoor Nationals 2015.

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FAI Outdoor World Meet 2022			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		20,16,B		P,D,21,13		17,K,11		E,A,19,22		2,9,M		C,14,F,12		3,6,18		4,10,1		8,Q,O,H		5,7,J		Total	Avg
1	NFTO	UK	18		23		21		21		25		15	-2	17		14	-1	23		23		200	20.0
2	Nephtys	FR	16	-2	20	-1	19		21		23		14		17		14	-1	24		21		189	18.9
3	XPG4	US	17	-1	21	-1	18	-1	20	-1	20	-3	16		15		15		21	-2	21		184	18.4
4	Meltemi Oceanside	DE	15		17		13		17		20		14		14		9	-2	18		16		153	15.3

4-way Women medal winners at FAI World Championships of Formation Skydiving since 2001

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Vana Parker, original member of the South African national team in 4-way Open, Voodoo, joined NFTO when her former team did not continue at the end of the 2015 season. She was eligible for the British national team in 4-way Women, as Voodoo attended their last FAI world meet in Dubai 2012, and the Parker family was living in London. Vana Parker replaced Rai Ahmed in 2016, and current NFTO videographer Simon Brentford took the camera slot. The new NFTO lineup defended the British FAI bronze medals in 4-way Women successfully in Ottawa 2016.

Ane Brentford and Maria Russell both did not come back for the 2017 season. Anna Hicks and Vana Parker needed two new team mates, and they recruited Catherine Anderson and Debbie Lamsley for the new NFTO lineup. Simon Brentford continued on camera. NFTO qualified again as the national team in 4-way Women at the British Outdoor Nationals 2017 and then replaced Debbie Lamsley with Sian Stokes for the next world meet season in 2018.

Sian Stokes had collected her first world meet experiences earlier than her new team mates, as she had competed with Bodyflight Langar in Dubai 2012. As a result of this personnel change, the NFTO lineup in Australia 2018 was identical with the one at Skydive Arizona last week.

NFTO finished in 2nd place in Australia (20.2) and needed a new member again for 2019, as Catherine Anderson did not continue. Julia Swallow, former Satori member, stepped in for the two heavily compromised years of the corona virus crisis in 2020 and 2021.

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NFTO - Nephtys - XPG4 - Meltemi at the FAI Outdoor World Meet 2022 - Video Footage Courtesy of FAI/ISC and OmniSkore!HD

Participation in 4-way Women at FAI World Championships of Formation Skydiving since 2001

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The happy ending of the NFTO story began when Catherine Anderson re-joined the lineup this year, and the British 4-way Women team hired NMP PCH HayaBusa's 4-way Open Class world champion of 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2021 as their new coach. The identical 2018 lineup turned their silver medals from Australia into gold in Eloy.

It's the 4th set of FAI gold medals in 4-way Women for Great Britain, after a turbulent year for NFTO. The British team did not know until shortly before the world meet whether British Skydiving would sanction the team to compete for the British delegation or not. NFTO had even missed the British Outdoor Nationals in August.

Despite the 11-point lead after Round 10, NFTO were still facing strong opposition in Eloy. France (Nephtys) and United States (XPG4) both had new lineups this year and still challenged the British team enough in an exciting battle for the FAI medals. NFTO had the advantage of bringing back the skills and experiences of the same lineup that won the silver medals in Australia 2018 with a 20.2 average.

It was only a 4-team field though, which barely justified the FAI medals in this event. FAI rules require a minimum of four teams to announce an official winner in any of the world meet events. Participation in 4-way Women has obviously decreased, and the history and future of the event will be carefully evaluated by the officials in the FAI/ISC commissions.