Who Was Untouchable?

On June 11th 2015, teams from all over the country descended on iFLY Naperville to compete and see if they were truly Untouchable.  The Untouchables event was sponsored by Lexus, providing a total of $3,700 in prize money.  Rather than having the total points from all rounds determine a team’s standing, a bracket was used and teams battled it out head-to-head. 

In 2-way Dynamic some of the battles came down to less then a second difference between the victor and loser.  You could feel the suspense in the air as competitors flew faster and faster times.  In 2-way VFS open the third place team defeated the 4th place team by a single point. 

An interesting dynamic to the competition was having first time flyers mixed in with the competition.  The event organizers were curious how it would turn out since it could potentially create a hectic environment.  At the conclusion of the competition, competitors gave positive feedback around having the break that the first time flyers provided, and the flyers got to see some amazing competitors fly.

After all the events were over and scores were tallied, a huck jam commenced and some truly amazing flying was performed. 6 way dynamic lines were flown, 6 way head-down pieces were being flipped, and smiles happened all around.  Afterwards, everyone ventured just across the street to World of Beer for the awards ceremony. A stage was set up and each event was recognized and winners awarded their prizes, medals, and those awesome big checks. The event proved to be a huge success and Naperville looks forward to next year’s Untouchables Round 2!

 

 An interview with Meet Director, BJ Michaeli

1. What inspired you to choose the Untouchables theme?

Well we actually had a few different ideas when we were pondering what our theme would be.  They were all based on different things that have happened in Chicago or had Chicago as it’s theme.  Finally we decided that nothing embodied Chicago like Al Capone.  Now there is a classic movie called The Untouchables, which is all about Al Capone and his capture.  So we decided this would be the best name for the competition because he was competing to be the best -- the same thing our competitors would be competing for.

 

2. Your competition was sponsored by Lexus. How did you get that sweet deal & those awesome big checks?

We tactfully pursued different sponsors.  Eventually with a lot of preparation we were able to bring them on as a sponsor.  The big checks were just a fun idea to give away all the prize money we had.  I mean everyone has always wanted to get a big check, right?

 

3. iFLY Naperville is close to 2 great dropzones. What is the dynamic like between the dropzones and tunnels? How are skydivers engaging in the tunnel?

We have a great relationship with all of the drop zones around us.  Everyone gets along well if we are at the DZ or here at the tunnel.  I mean it is easy since we all share a strong passion to fly.  The skydivers come in when the weather is bad.  More and more of them are coming in now too since they are back from their winter homes. 

 

4. What was your favorite event? Which event turned out to be the most exciting?

My favorite event was 2 way Dynamic.  We had a total of 10 different teams from all over the continent.  All the teams were extremely talented!  There was one round where the difference between the winner and loser was .5 seconds!  We had to re-watch this round numerous times to get the correct winner.  One round there was a 5.8 second difference between the fist and last team in the round.

 

5. What was the most challenging aspect of planning the meet?

The most challenging aspect was finding judges to make sure everyone gets judged properly and fairly.  We had some restrictions placed on us because of the corporate sponsor, which made things challenging.  I do think though we were able to provide fair judging to all the competitors though and I am proud of how hard our judges did work.

 

6. Do you have any tips for people preparing to compete in the future?

Do as much as you can as early as possible.  The more you get done and set up before the competition the easier it is going to come together in the end.  Just make sure you have everything in writing so you can reference that in time of need.  

 

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