Above: Participants pose with their competition medals.
On December 5-7, Skydive DeLand in Florida hosted its third consecutive XRW Cup, a competition in which wingsuit flyers and canopy pilots build formations together. The poor weather forecast for the weekend kept some participants away; however, the teams that attended brought great energy, making it a successful and enjoyable competition.
Friday was planned as a warm-up day, and teams were able to complete one or two training jumps before meeting with the organizers. As the weekend weather forecast continued to deteriorate, they decided to begin competition rounds on Friday afternoon. Two competition loads successfully completed before the end of the day.
Low, overcast clouds on Saturday and Sunday left no further opportunities to jump. Despite this, teams gathered to discuss techniques, coach one another and plan future competitions using the same format at other drop zones around the world.
Unfortunately, with only four teams competing, this year’s event was ineligible to serve as a qualifying test event for advancement to Nationals. The 2026 event, planned for December, will hopefully attract five or more teams and meet the qualification requirements.
Third place went to Souless Flyers (Andy Kenny and Landon Gates), second place to Get Out of My Lines (Colby Groves and Dave Beksinski), and first place to I Am Speed (Alex Lemaire and Lucas Nickolich).
Skydive DeLand supported the event by hosting and sponsoring the $3,000 cash prize. This competition has created an important opportunity for athletes to compete in a discipline with limited competitive outlets.
Lucas Nickolich D-38652
DeLand, Florida