posted Nov 4th, 2012 - The NSL News continues with the aftermath of the 8way competition at the USPA Nationals 2012.

There was still additional NSL Reality TV footage, which was not uploaded so far. It shows the Dubai Asaar 8way team after the last round and also the latest celebration of friendship between the Russian 8way team Sky Panthers Barkli and the Golden Knights. The last celebration took place at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship 2012 where the Golden Knights presented a very special sword to the Russian team.

This time, both teams met after Round 10 and scheduled a meeting at the 8way award ceremony. Both teams then had the same idea for this event's gift. The Russians always have the best and smoothest vodka in their luggage for the occasion, which was in this case the third visit to the USA for a competition with the Golden Knights within a year. US Army team leader Brian "BK" Krause anticipated this and had his own answer to the vodka - a big bottle of whiskey.

Paraclete Outdoor 2012		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	8,7,E	O,4,14	Q,H,18,1	D,L,N,B,13	21,20,5	17,A,19	10,15,11	P,K,22,F	16,J,3	6,M,9	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights	18	24	23(-2)	21(-2)	17	18	23	26	29(-2)	20	219	21.9
2	Sky Panthers Barkli	15	21	20(-1)	21(-2)	17	16	19	19(-3)	29(-1)	14(-2)	191	19.1
3	Dubai Assar 8	6	8	10	5(-2)	6(-1)	7	6(-1)	6(-2)	9(-1)	10(-1)	73	7.3

The Dubai Asaar team members, with coaches Eliana Rodriguez and Craig Girard, have actually copied the Russian travel agenda in the same time period. The Dubai delegation was in Eloy for the USPA Nationals 2011 where they competed only with the two 4way lineups.

Then the 8way project was launched, and the Dubai Asaar 8way lineup competed for the first time at the Paraclete XP Outdoor Championship this year in March, together with the Golden Knights and Sky Panthers Barkli. The same three teams now got back together at the USPA Nationals 2012.

It was not really the same team who competed at Skydive Arizona last week. The 8way team at the USPA Nationals 2012 looked like a trained 8way team, and the performance level was miles above (7.3 - 11.7) the one in DeLand in March. The training and the 8way experience that the two former Airspeed members have brought to Dubai clearly show results.

USPA Nationals 2012		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	8way Open Class	3,6,5	2,D,14	C,P,B,M,11	22,9,A	L,4,G,13	E,F,8,10	7,N,1	18,O,K,J	H,Q,21,17	15,20,12	Total	Avg
1	Golden Knights (US)	23	19	25	22	24	18(-1)	23	19(-2)	21	25	219	21.9
2	Sky Panthers Barkli (RU)	21	17	24	17(-2)	21	18	19	15(-2)	21	18	191	19.1
6	Dubai Asaar (AE)	14	10	13	12	12	11	10(-1)	11(-2)	10(-2)	14	117	11.7

Sky Panthers Barkli and Dubai Asaar are facing the same situation at the Mondial 2012 in Dubai, together with France, Germany and Brazil. Their 4way teams are also competing in 8way.

Eliana Rodriguez, who competed with Asaar Gold, and Craig Girard with Asaar Red, will both not be eligible to compete at the Mondial 2012. They were also in the 8way lineup last week. It will be a challenging job to quickly bring back the original members who could not compete at the USPA Nationals.

The Asaar 8way lineup and the two 4way teams all appeared as well trained and prepared as other well trained top teams. Eliana Rodriguez and Craig Girard communicate with the team members as they do with experienced teams, including only number and letters for the dive pool. The progression of Dubai's home teams is impressive, and the big showdown is just around the corner.