posted Apr 8th, 2016 - The situation for Arizona Airspeed in the run-up to the World Championship of Formation Skydiving at the Mondial 2016 has been difficult enough, and it does not get any easier.

The reigning 4-way world champions from Belgium, NMP PCH Hayabusa, replaced Tail Roy Janssen with Jeroen "Bob" Nollet after winning the gold medals in Prostejov 2014 and continued without much of a setback at all. They lost their first meet with the new lineup, the 5th Dubai International Parachuting Championship, against the bronze medalist of 2014, Evolution, and then never looked back to win all other meets ever since.

NMP PCH Hayabusa and Arizona Airspeed crossed each other’s ways three times with their new lineups since the World Meet 2014, and the Belgian indoor and outdoor world champions had the upper hand at each meet. Airspeed eventually decided to make a dramatic move and changed the lineup again at the beginning of the 2016 season.

Mikhail Markine replaced Chris Farina and took the Point slot, Niklas Hemlin (Inside Center) and Thiago Gomes (Tail) joined forces in the rear piece. Thomas Hughes continued as Airspeed's Outside Center.

The new lineup had a very promising start at the Shamrock Showdown 2016, where they mastered a very challenging 10-round competition draw with a 24.3 average. Airspeed had skipped the Wind Games and the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship to focus only on outdoor competition and catch up as quickly as possible with Hayabusa.

Airspeed's 24.3 average in DeLand does not sound like much, compared to the last outdoor results at the World Air Games 2015. However, Airspeed's performance at the Shamrock Showdown grows to a different dimension after comparing it indirectly with the Belgian world champions.

Shamrock Showdown 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		3,13,9	G,6,21	10,20,11	18,4,B	F,1,14	19,5,7	P,Q,16,A	C,15,M,12	J,L,K,2	E,O,22,17	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	23	24	19	22	24	24(-1)	29	25	29	24	243	24.3
2	Aerodyne French Girls	FR	21	22	17	21	23	20	27	21	27	22	221	22.1
3	Qatar Tigers	QA	19	22	16	21	19	19	29	20	28	22	215	21.5
4	SDC Rhythm XP	US	19	19	15	19	21	20	26	19	25	21	204	20.4
5	Satori XL	UK	19	18	16	20	19	20	26	18	24	22	202	20.2

Four teams (French FLY-IN Girls, Qatar Tigers, SDC Rhythm XP, Satori XL) competed together with Arizona Airspeed in DeLand and then traveled to Bedford for the World Challenge 2016, where NMP PCH Hayabusa was waiting for other top contenders.

Comparing the scores of the same four teams with Hayabusa in Bedford indicates that the Belgians would have finished around a 24.8 average (24.3 - 24.7 - 25.0 - 25.1) at the Shamrock Showdown. Airspeed's 24.3 average in DeLand would not be that far away from the current outdoor top spot in the world.

Unfortunately, Airspeed's road to the Mondial 2016 is now facing new obstacles. The current lineup has to take a break from training with the complete team after Thiago Gomes and videographer Justin Price had to be put on the injury list.

World Challenge 2016			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		P,2,10	8,F,15	G,14,17	L,H,E,13	M,7,O,1	16,21,11	N,D,4,9	18,20,A	G,19,3	C,K,B,22	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH Hayabusa	BE	27	31	28	39	35	25	38	30	31	36	320	32.0
2	French FLY-IN Girls	FR	22	27	27	34	35	22	33	24	29	33	286	28.6
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	22	26	25	31	34	23	33	23	27	31	275	27.5
6	SDC Rhythm XP	US	23	26	22	31	32	23	31	23	27	30	268	26.8
8	Satori XL	UK	23	25	22	30	29	20	33	24	24	28	258	25.8

Thiago Gomes told the Sun Path Products NSL News that the first tunnel camp after the Shamrock Showdown ended with a broken finger for the Airspeed Tail. It was the transition to a Phalanx (Random Formation Q) that caused the new Airspeed troubles by breaking Thiago Gomes' proximal phalanx of his little finger on the right hand. The fracture was more complicated than he first thought, and it eventually required surgery. Thiago Gomes is grounded for at least a month.

It was not the only trouble. Videographer Justin Price broke his femur last week during a Canopy Piloting competition at Skydive City.

Arizona Airspeed continues with the scheduled training despite the bad luck. Ari Perelman and John D'Annunzio will fill the Tail slot until Thiago Gomes is back in action, and at least the new front piece (Thomas Hughes/Mikhail Markine) can still benefit from the training. Niklas Daniel helps out on camera in the meantime. Airspeed hopes that all the obstacles will only lead to a great result later this year...