High winds and low clouds still hinder the competition, and patience is drawing thin. Only a few women’s teams landed before the shifting winds exceeded nine meters per second, keeping the U.S. women’s team on the ground. It was mid-afternoon before the final two rounds of women’s style could be completed. The Russian women tied for first and also placed third. The jump-off for first and second place will occur Friday, weather permitting. Taking fifth place was Elisa Tennyson and her U.S. teammate, Cheryl Stearns, placed eighth.

After three of nine rounds of accuracy, Marty Jones leads the U.S. men with a total of two centimeters—in a nine-way tie for second place. The men’s team stands alone in seventh place with a total team score of 17 centimeters. The men have only completed one of five rounds of freefall style and, remember, they have cuts along the way.

Better weather is expected for the penultimate day of the meet, and everyone is anxious to complete the required minimum number of six accuracy rounds prior to meet’s end on Friday. Check here for the latest unofficial scores and check back for updates.

The prevalent high winds slowed down enough to allow for some men’s accuracy landing while the women did freefall style. However, low clouds continue to plague the competition site, so there are many “stand-downs.” Because style & accuracy rules provide for elimination of those not doing so well as the meet progresses, the U.S. Team was happy four of the five females—Elisa Tennyson, Rhonda Reichel, Angela Nichols and Cheryl Stearns—made the cut to the second round.

But style is not the USA’s best event, and only two women made the cut after round three. Check back for more updates and check here for more information.

The 2010 U.S. Style & Accuracy Team is in Montenegro for the 31st World Parachuting Championships of Style & Accuracy, which runs until the closing ceremonies and awards banquet on September 3. Nestled along the Adriatic coast south of Croatia and Slovenia, the city of Niksic is hosting competitors from 25 countries vying for medals in freefall style and accuracy landing. The U.S. delegation includes the men's team (Keith Bergeron, Yevgen Dolotov, James Drummond, James Hayhurst, Marty Jones and Dennis Murphy), the women's team (Cassie Drummond, Khalida Hendricks, Angela Nichols, Rhonda Reichel, Cheryl Stearns and Elisa Tennyson), team manager Ginger Kuhlmann and coach Marius Ivascu.

Montenegro, along with the rest of Europe, has been suffering from unrelenting heat, with daytime temperatures hovering in the 100-degree range. Unfortunately, high temperatures bring high winds, which grounded the accuracy jumpers the first day.

Check back for updates and for more information, check here.

The 2010 USPA Nationals at Skydive Chicago, in Ottawa, Illinois, will include a pro/am canopy formation 2-way test event. The event will take place following the regular canopy formation events scheduled for September 18-23. Click here for the rules. The event will be similar to the one conducted at last year’s Nationals, and the results of the test will be used by the Competition Committee to determine if it will become an official event and included in the Skydiver’s Competition Manual. Those with questions may contact competition@uspa.org.

In spite of the repressive heat and blinding smoke at times over the past week, the 3rd FAI World Canopy Piloting Championships lived up to the hype it was given when it began in Aerograd Kolomna, 60 miles southeast of Moscow, Russia. With several professional swoopers in the pack, including some from the USA and one from Canada, on Russia soil—and water—the competition was bound to be tight, and the battle would be fought down to the ninth and final jump which happened today.

When the awards ceremony and final banquet get underway tomorrow, some of the eight U.S. Team members will be standing on the podium, but no American anthem will be playing when the gold medals are hung in each of three events—accuracy, distance and speed—as well as the overall.

The intrepid Canadian, Jay Moledzki, eclipsed the crowd with his first-place win in accuracy, followed by a Russian and an Australian. An Austrian took the gold in the distance event, followed in second by USA’s Nicholas Batsch, then Moledzki. And the speed results will once again put gold around Moledzki’s neck, with the USA bringing home the other two medals—Shannon Pilcher with silver and Greg Windmiller with bronze.

And when the final three swoopers mount the podium in Kolomna for the overall medals presentation, "O Canada" will be playing in the background while the red maple-leafed Canadian flag rises between two stars-and-stripes. Moledzki dutifully earned first place, with steady Batsch in second and Pilcher third. Check here for more information and here for detailed unofficial results.