posted Apr 13th, 2017 - It aImost went by as if it were nothing special. It is actually a serious upset, and possibly a tipping point in recent U.S. 4-way history. The unthinkable became reality at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championships 2017: Arizona Airspeed was defeated by SDC Rhythm XP.

OK, and first of all, I do feel somehow ignorant sometimes when I bring attention once again to our sport's top teams. They get all the attention and all the support and sponsor-ships, so why do I have to give them additional attention? Well, because the top competition is the most exciting part of the sport - in all sports - and the top athletes are role models for the rest of us.

On top of that, I don't feel bad because I give the rest of the 4-way community plenty of attention on a daily basis. The Sun Path Products NSL News at SKYLEAGUE.COM definitely covers all of the 4-way categories, from the Rookie Class beginner level to the last place on the AAA Class leaderboard. So please allow me one more time to discuss the top teams.

TURNING POINTS: SDC Rhythm XP Beat Arizona Airspeed

The SDC Rhythm XP team project was launched in 2007. One goal was to become one of the best 4-way teams in the world. This year's main goal was defined more specifically after all the years of hard work and the ups and downs of the team rollercoaster. Rhythm was and is planning to win the USPA Nationals and to qualify as the U.S. national team for the World Meet 2018 in Australia.

The founders and original members, JaNette and Steve Lefkowitz, had not seen any U.S. team defeat Arizona Airspeed in their Rhythm careers. They launched Rhythm the year after the last U.S. team finished ahead of Airspeed and became 4-way world champions in 2006, DeLand Fire. Airspeed's Odyssey lineup of 2007 then took back the U.S. top spot, and the following Airspeed lineups have defended this top position successfully ever since—until February 2017.

That's interesting enough; however, I would like to dig deeper into it since there is so much more to the current Rhythm-Airspeed situation.

USPA Nationals 2006		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	13,19,17	N,21,14	7,M,8	9,K,10	B,22,H,3	4,20,16	G,6,1	12,F,2	J,L,Q,P,18	E,O,5,D	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Groove	21	19	22	22	22	19	20	19	25	33	222	22.2
2	Black Cat	17	19	24	23	20	17	19	19	29	31	218	21.8
3	Fastrax	20	18	24	22	22	17	20	19	25	29	216	21.6
4	Airspeed Odyssey	15	17	21	20	21	17	18	19	27	31	206	20.6
5	Perris Fury	16	17	21	20	20	16	19	17	24	29	199	19.9
6	Golden Knights Black	19	16	23	21	20	15	19	19	24	20	196	19.6

First of all, neither JaNette Lefkowitz nor Niklas Hemlin were overly impressed or shaken when I interviewed them right after the completion of the event. That was not really a surprise, as both know that the indoor competition at Paraclete does not say much about outdoor skills.

The results at the upcoming Shamrock Showdown in DeLand will tell much more where both teams are. However, the outcome in Raeford surely was a psychological boost for the challenger.

The psychology of the situation can be dangerous though, even though the four Rhythm academics (MIT/Virginia Tech) are smart enough to know the work is not finished yet. There is no room for any complacency.

Rhythm did not beat Airspeed at Paraclete with an impressive new team record average or an extraordinary and outstanding performance. In fact, Rhythm had posted higher meet averages at earlier indoor meets. The reason why Rhythm finished ahead of Airspeed for the first time is that the reigning U.S. 4-way champion is at the beginning stage of their new lineup.

Paraclete XP Indoor 2017		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	7,20,G	17,J,4	10,16,B	12,F,D,E	O,P,22,19	K,N,6,15	3,14,M	C,1,21	13,2,L	9,18,8	Total	Avg
1	SDC Rhythm XP	28	25(-2)	25(-1)	30(-1)	27	27(-1)	26	26	23	23(-1)	260	26.0
2	XP4	27	28(-1)	24	30(-1)	27	27(-1)	26	23(-1)	22	24	258	25.8
3	Arizona Airspeed	21(-2)	29	25	31	27	29	23	25	23	24	257	25.7

It is actually impressive that Airspeed has caught up so quickly after a serious makeover at the beginning of the 2017 season. Yes, Rhythm surely is on eye level with Airspeed right now, but there is plenty of work ahead to keep it like that.

The topic of the Airspeed makeover brings up the most intriguing part of the story, where the pressure turns back onto the Airspeed side. Airspeed's current lineup includes two former Rhythm members, Thiago Gomes and Mikhail Markine. Both left Rhythm when they received the Airspeed invitations in 2013 (Thiago) and 2015 (Mikhail). They saw better chances to become 4-way world champions in Arizona, and Rhythm had to rebuild their lineup twice.

Rhythm is now in the second year with Andrew Happick and Doug Barren, who did not consider moving to Arizona and were not invited when Airspeed needed a new member at the end of the 2016 season. Airspeed, with former Rhythm members Thiago Gomes and Mikhail Markine, have now lost their first competition against their former team mates with a new lineup and will have to work hard for a chance to compete for gold medals at the next world championships. Now, that is an interesting angle of the whole situation, isn't it? The Shamrock Showdown begins in five days...