It was a week full of airsports with breathtaking and spectacular parachuting action at the airfield in Szymanów which is situated near Wroclaw, Poland. Over 5000 spectators witnessed daily 66 of the world`s best canopy piloting athletes who competed from 2nd until 8th for the 7th FAI World Canopy Piloting Championships and the premiere of the FAI World Canopy Piloting Championships in Freesyle.
Canopy Piloting – also known as Swooping – is a fairly new sport, but often assessed the most spectacular discipline. Fast and low flights as well as aerobatics action with top speeds around 150 km/h above the swoop pond can make the fans literally feel the gust of wind caused by flying athletes. The Championships involves a series of tasks designed to demonstrate the parachutist’s ability to control his canopy and his flight accuracy. At the World Canopy Piloting Championships the athletes compete in three disciplines - speed, accuracy and distance.
The new World Champion is the 36 year old Nicolas Batsch (USA) from Denver/Colorado. He achieved a total score of 833.262 Points. In the accuracy category he came in 4th, took the 3rd place in distance and the 2nd place in speed. Moreover, the airfield in Szymanów was the stage for the 1st FAI World Canopy Piloting Freestyle Championships. It was the 29 year old Abdulbari Qubaisi (UAE) from the United Arab Emirates who claims the title with 266.942 Points.

World Canopy Piloting Championships (WCPC)

Accuracy Distance Speed Total
1 – Nicolas Batsch (USA) 268,846 pts 281,763 pts 282,653 pts 833,262 pts
2 – Cedric Veiga Rios (FRA) 257,663 pts 297,437 pts 273,439 pts 828,539 pts
3 – Curtis Bartholomew (USA) 287,560 pts 257,960 pts 272,082 pts 817,602 pts

World Canopy Piloting Freestyle Championships (WCPFC)

Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Total
1 – Abdulbari Qubaisi (UAE) 77,171 pts 100,000 pts 89,771 pts 266,942 pts
2 – Pablo Hernandez (ESP) 90,818 pts 76,689 pts 71,467 pts 238,974 pts
3 – Justin Price (USA) 84,615 pts 82,206 pts 52,355 pts 219,176 pts