Spanish Nationals - Safety First

The Spanish Nationals kicked off this morning, sponsored by Red Bull and PD. It's like a mini World Meet with 45 competitors from 17 different countries.  People have travelled from places such as Australia and Venezuela to attend.  Being in Spain you would expect it to be a relaxed competition, which it is, but it's also very well organised and there is a great atmosphere.  Safety first is the cry of the day and Meet Director Lucia is swift to issue a yellow card for any infringements- we've had one injury and no-one wants another one.

So far we've done one round for distance and accuracy and two rounds of speed.  The speed course is a 80m S carve- this might sound tough to some but, if you get your line right, you can actually take a straight line through it.

The standard of competitors is high.  Many have been on the swoop scene for a while; some competing, some not.  But now they've all converged on Skydive Lillo and it is a happening place.  At over 2000 feet above sea level those that have learnt to really generate some power are putting in some great runs.  There's a few that need to learn to be accurate and consistent with the power as well!  Great to watch is Michael Vaughan, all the way from Australia, making his first competition with a new turn- 990 degrees of rotation!

Conditions have been testing during the middle part of the day with some winds changing and even some big name competitors have taken a zero.  We're waiting for the scores now but my guess is that local jumper Pablo Hernandez will be in the lead.

I've been in the water twice today but not landed in it- I'll leave you to figure that one out.

Right, I'm off for a cerveza and some tapas.

Comments

[Kolla Kolbeinsdottir]

Pablo is on home turf so I know he will do great, but the competition is stiff. Should be one very exciting meet!!