posted Aug 10th, 2012 - The French national teams don't have to compete at the annual championships, and they usually don't do that, as they rather focus on their job to represent France at the international meets. They did this very successfully at the last World Meet 2010 in Menzelinsk, Russia, when they won all four Formation Skydiving events (4way Open, 4way Female, 4way VFS, 8way).

It is different this year. National Formation Skydiving manager Jeremie Rollett, who is still the reigning 4way world champion of 2010, has ordered his 4way and 8way lineups to travel to Vichy and compete on home turf this week. Aerodyne Aerokart (4way) and Aerodyne Maubeuge (8way) will not be declared national champions at the end of the event, and they don't have serious competition in Vichy. Their job is a different one at the French Nationals 2012

French Nationals 2012		Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	4,E,M,H	17,20,6	7,12,P	3,K,13	5,14,O	L,8,F,11	Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Aerokart (FR)	34	23	24	23	23	26	153	25.5
2	Maubeuge NPC B1 (FR)	22	14	17	14	16	17	100	16.7
3	Maubeuge NPC B2 (FR)	14	15	17	15	16	18	95	15.8
4	Amethys Maubeuge (FR)	23	12	13	14	13	14	89	14.8
5	Maubeuge NPC B3 (FR)	21	13	13	11	13	14	85	14.2
5	Armee Air Nice (FR)	21	11	10	13	16	14	85	14.2
7	Monaco Rebootizer Aerial (FR)	19	12	13	11	15	13	83	13.8

Jeremie Rollett decided before the start of the 2012 season that his national teams in the Open Class will compete only at the World Meet in Dubai and not at the World Cup 2012. The French Nationals is the last and only opportunity for his teams this year to go through the drill of attending a 4way and 8way competition at the same time.

The NSL News reported earlier that France tries once again to win 4way and 8way with the same lineup. The previous attempts in 2003 and 2008 failed, and Mathieu Bernier became the only and single competitor in the history of the sport who won both gold medals in Menzelinsk 2010. Now his whole 4way lineup tries to copy this achievement in Dubai 2012.

Both French national lineups seem to be well on track. The French Nationals this week is only the second outdoor competition for Aerodyne Aerokart after the 25.4 average at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2012, and the 8way team competes for the first time this year. The 25.5 average after the first six rounds is a good result for the double duty situation with little time between the jumps.

The 8way lineup is also in good shape, as it seems. The 22.0 average after six rounds matches the scores of the Golden Knights at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2012, with four more rounds to come. The French 8way team started this year's training in June and has to share time and resources with the 4way lineup.

The leaderboard after six rounds also shows the three French B-Teams in perfect order and the usual battle between Monaco Aerial and the French Air Force team from Nice. Aerodyne Deep Blue Defenders, the French national team in the female 4way category, saves the team energies for the competition with the Golden Knights at the upcoming World Cup.