Calgarian Rob McLeod won the Self Caught Flight World Championship during the recent World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) World Overall Flying Disc Championships in Norrköping, Sweden.
The World Overall Flying Disc Championships take place every two years and is comprised of seven events (just like a Heptathlon in track and field). Competitors are awarded points based on how they finish with medals being awarded for each event along with the overall champion for the competitor who has the highest points total at the completion of the championships.
The seven events are: Double Disc Court (DDC), Distance, Disc Golf, Self Caught Flight (SCF), Discathon, Freestyle and Accuracy.
Self-Caught Flight (SCF) includes two events with the intention of throwing the disc in a high boomerang flight allowing the thrower to then catch it — with one hand. In Maximum Time Aloft (MTA), a player aims to accumulate a maximum number of seconds between the throw and catch; in Throw, Run and Catch (TRC), the object is to accumulate a maximum number of meters between the throw and catch. To get good results, players must be adept at gauging the wind, “reading” the flight of a disc and employing good catching techniques. The SCF score is the combination of MTA * 5.5 + TRC.
Mcleod won the SCF event with an MTA score of 15.37 seconds and a TRC score of 79 metres for a total SCF score of 163.535, which is less than 3 points off the World Record of 166.19 (which was set in 1996 by Niclas Bergehamn).
You can view the video of his winning throws here: http://www.youtube.com/
“The first time I ever threw an MTA was 12 years ago and at the time, it was just fun to throw a disc high into the air and be able to catch it,” said McLeod. “At the time I didn’t know there was a competition in Self Caught Flight and never did I dream of becoming a World Champion so to win the gold medal is a testament to all my hard work. It’s a great feeling to look back and see how far I’ve come.”
McLeod’s performance ranks as the second best all time in Self Caught Flight competitions and for many of the competitors, it was the best they had witnessed in person.
“I have never seen a better result in a championship final ever and it was made of power and consistence no luck was needed whatsoever. Standing ovations for showing the world how it should be done. Thanks Rob for the amazing show you gave us,” said Swedish competitor Mike Beckman, who finished 7th overall.
Rob also won a bronze medal in the Distance event and finished 5th in Disc Golf. Based on his results, he finished 8th overall but wasn’t that far off from a top 3 finish.
“It’s all about consistency, not just being good in a few events. The winner in Open, Tomas Burvall, only won 1 event but because he did well in all of the other events relative to the other competitors, he was the overall champion,” said Rob.
Up next for Rob is the Denver Quadruped, the last of 5 events in the Quadruped Series, which is a long distance competition which competitors throw a disc to a dog for distance. Rob and his canine team-mate Davy Whippet are the 2012 Quadruped Champions and the current Quadruped record holders. Rob’s goal is to win the Denver Quad and break their current world record which would make them the first men’s team to repeat as Quadruped champions.
McLeod also competes in ultimate frisbee and disc golf competitions and teaches people how to throw. Find out more about Rob.