posted Apr 12th, 2017 - SDC Rhythm XP was once again the only team visiting from the American continent at the World Challenge 2017, and it was a very successful trip.

The U.S. top contender and direct opponent for the reigning U.S. 4-way champions of Arizona Airspeed made the trip to Bedford for the 7th time and finished with a new team record average for a regular 10-round meet. Rhythm had posted a 26.0 average at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2017 at the end of February and followed up with a 28.6 average five weeks later.

Rhythm had also attended the Shamrock Showdown 2017 between the two indoor events and was probably the only team at the World Challenge 2017 that had already completed an outdoor competition at this time of the year.

Rhythm had met Airspeed in DeLand and ended up in 2nd place after winning the indoor meet at Paraclete. Airspeed used to compete in Bedford years ago and has not been there since the World Challenge 2012. In fact, Airspeed and Rhythm had faced each other in Bedford with different lineups each year between 2010 and 2012.

World Challenge 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		D,B,6,22	12,E,17	20,G,C,10	N,M,15,H	Q,19,K,4	8,21,L	P,9,J,7	O,11,1	13,A,16	3,18,5	Total	Avg
1	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	33	29	29	46	34	28	47	28	28	29	331	33.1
2	Weembi Lille	FR	33	31	29	43	35	28	46	29	29	27	330	33.0
3	French Weembi Girls	FR	30	29	28	38	32	24	43	28	26	25	303	30.3
4	RealFly-Sion	FR	29	29	26	38	31	26	42	27	24	23	295	29.5
5	SDC Rhythm XP	US	29	26	24	37	30	26	40	27	24	23	286	28.6

Since 2010, SDC Rhythm XP had missed the World Challenge only in 2014 when JaNette and Steve Lefkowitz had Christy Frikken and Mikhail Markine in the lineup for the second year. The same lineup had attended the World Challenge 2013 after putting the new team together and came back to Bedford in 2015 after the 1-year break.

The 27.3 average at the World Challenge 2015 in the team's third year with the same lineup was the highest one so far and was rewarded with the 2nd place behind NMP PCH HayaBusa.

SDC Rhythm XP is now in the second year with the current lineup, and the 28.6 average beats the 27.3 that the 2015 lineup posted in its third year. It seems like the progression with new members Andrew Happick and Doug Barron is a step ahead.

Rhythm still ended up only in 5th place due to the strong field and especially the French world class teams, who took the three spots behind HayaBusa and in front of Rhythm.

World Challenge 2015			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		15,K,E,F	11,22,A	16,H,M,19	3,10,D	17,18,P	4,12,O	5,N,L,G	14,B,C,20	2,1,21	J,Q,6,13	Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	40	24	32	25	29	26	38	30	24	33	301	30.1
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	36	24	28	22	28	23	34	26	23	29	273	27.3
3	Weembi Lille	FR	36	20	31	25	23	23	31	29	21	29	268	26.8
4	Gavroche	FR	34	23	30	23	25	23	32	27	22	24	263	26.3
5	Thunder ISR	BE	35	21	29	23	27	21	28	24	22	27	257	25.7
6	SportLoto	RU	36	23	30	21	24	21	32	22	23	22	254	25.4
7	Artemis Saumur RealFly	FR	33	21	28	22	23	21	29	27	19	27	250	25.0
8	Qatar Tigers	QA	28	21	29	22	26	20	30	24	21	25	246	24.6
9	Voodoo	UK	31	21	25	21	24	18	27	25	19	26	237	23.7
9	Red cat	RU	27	21	25	23	25	19	29	23	22	23	237	23.7

Only one of the three French teams will be Rhythm's direct opponent though if the U.S. team wins the USPA Nationals 2017 and represents the U.S.A. at the FAI World Championship of Formation Skydiving in Australia 2018.

Weembi Lille is only going to the FAI Indoor World Meet in October this year, and the French Weembi Girls are supposed to win the FAI gold medals in 4-way Women for France in Australia. RealFly-Sion is the national team in 4-way Open and would be Rhythm’s only direct opponent at the world meet.

However, it is quite obvious by now that the U.S. national team, Rhythm or Airspeed, will have to deal not only with NMP PCH HayaBusa next year. France has caught up in 4-way Open, after an empty medal box in Prostejov 2014 and bronze medals in 2016. Real-Fly Sion is not even willing to settle for silver and aims at the gold medals.

It will be a challenging situation in Australia, and SDC Rhythm XP has to win in the U.S.A. first. The team skips the national indoor qualifier this month to focus mostly on outdoor competition, while Arizona Airspeed wants to compete in Montreal, too.