posted Feb 19th, 2018 - The myth that Arizona Airspeed was undefeated at the Shamrock Showdown was broken with the story on 6 March 2017.

Joey Jones had brought to the NSL News attention that DeLand Majik won the first Shamrock Showdown in 2002 by three points over Airspeed's Vertical team (Craig Girard, Mark Kirkby, Neal Houston, John Eagle, Marc Steinbaugh on camera). It was the inaugural event, after the March meet of the Florida Skydiving League had grown into a major international outdoor competition and received a signature name related to the St. Patrick's Day celebrations at this time of the year.

The 2002 event was in fact the only time of 18 visits to DeLand in March that Arizona Airspeed did not win.

Airspeed's Odyssey lineup (Eliana Rodriguez, Craig Girard, Andy Delk, Mark Kirkby, Steve Nowak on camera) started a 3-year winning streak in 2007, then missed the 2010 event and later the FAI gold medals in Menzelinsk. The French national team (Julien Degen, Jeremie Rollett, Mathieu and Guillaume Bernier, Olivier Henaff on camera) won in DeLand and became the new 4-way world champions.

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Shamrock Showdown 2018 March 16 - 18 at Skydive DeLand

Shamrock Showdown Information

Skydive DeLand has confirmed the availability of a Cessna Caravan, beginning on March 1st through the competition, and as needed after the meet. Participating teams pay $22 per jump ticket for training before and after the meet. Let us know that your team is planning to attend and tell us your team's preference for the jump plane: Twin Otter or Cessna Caravan. Please send an e-mail as soon as possible.

Shamrock Showdown 2018			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	RealFly-Sion	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	SDC Rhythm XP	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	French Weembi Girls	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	Qatar Tigers	QA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	Golden Knights	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	FL Defiance	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1	Adventure Flyers	PY	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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Arizona Airspeed's new lineup (Thomas Hughes, Niklas Hemlin, Josh Hall, Mark Kirkby, Bill Schmitz on camera) came back to DeLand in 2011 and launched a new winning streak that is still lasting and will soon be challenged again in its 8th year.

The Airspeed lineup has changed many times since 2002, and there is still one Airspeed member who can claim to be undefeated at the Shamrock Showdown, at least with Airspeed.

Niklas Hemlin is the only current team member who has not lost at the Shamrock Showdown with an Airspeed lineup.

Thiago Gomes and Mikhail Markine both competed for SDC Rhythm XP when Airspeed won in DeLand. Ari Perelman was with other teams, as well, the Amphibious Attack Tigers in 2011 and USA CAN in 2013.

However, even Niklas Hemlin does not have a completely clean Shamrock sheet. He competed for Fastrax at the Shamrock Showdown 2007 and ended up three points behind Airspeed Odyssey.

Shamrock Showdown 2007			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		8,7,C	J,2,12	O,E,19,5	3,21,16	H,14,L,P	M,13,17	K,9,1	G,4,N,B	6,11,20	18,F,A,22	Total	Avg
1	Airspeed Odyssey	US	23	19	26	19	27	23	24	27	19	23	230	23.0
2	Fastrax	US	22	19	22	21	23	25	26	27	19	23	227	22.7
3	Golden Knights Black	US	22	19	27	20	25	22	23	25	17	22	222	22.2
4	DeLand Groove	US	21	19	24	19	23	22	-	-	-	-	128	21.3
5	Arcteryx	NO	19	17	21	18	22	20	22	22	17	19	197	19.7
6	Optic Nerve	US	16	14	16	14	19	17	17	16	13	15	157	15.7
7	Fastrax Blue	US	15	14	18	14	17	15	16	16	13	14	152	15.2
8	Teiwaz	US	16	14	16	14	15	17	16	16	11	13	148	14.8
9	Danish Blaze	DK	14	13	15	13	17	13	16	17	8	13	139	13.9
10	Golden Leaf	CA	15	12	14	12	13	14	13	11	11	13	128	12.8
11	Chicas	DE	11	11	11	11	12	9	13	12	11	12	113	11.3

Eliminating Niklas Hemlin from the list of undefeated Shamrock teams and competitors reduces the search to Shamrock Showdown events of the past.

DeLand Majik would be the only team that never lost at the event with the original lineup, which would also count for Airspeed Odyssey and other Airspeed lineups. However, DeLand Majik did not win on home turf with a new lineup after the original one was done at the end of the 2004 season.

Gary Smith and Joey Jones did not come back with Majik in 2005 and would be undefeated Shamrock competitors - if they had not been on other teams after winning in DeLand. Joey Jones came back as a player coach at a few events, while Gary Smith guided DeLand Fire to FAI gold medals in 2006.

It still does not even work for Gary Smith either, as DeLand Fire lost to Sinapsi PD from Italy at the Shamrock Showdown 2006, and Sinapsi had placed only 3rd the year before.

This leaves Airspeed members Eliana Rodriguez and Andy Delk as the only 4-way competitors who have never lost at the Shamrock Showdown, and Arizona Airspeed will try to continue the 7-year winning streak, which is impressive enough.

Shamrock Showdown Skins Game 2017: Scores after handicap and $200 per round

The Shamrock Showdown 2018 will not only feature Airspeed's efforts to defend the title against the tough domestic (SDC Rhythm XP) and international (Realfly Sion, Qatar Tigers, French Weembi Girls) world class challengers.

This year's event will once again include the popular Skins Game that is sponsored by Skydive DeLand with a total of $2,000 cash. The AAA Class winner takes home $1,000 and the other $1,000 are dedicated to the Skins Game, where each team can win $200 for a round after handicap. The handicap will be assigned to each team after Round 5 and rewards the team with the best performance in the following rounds, while the sophisticated formula keeps adjusting the handicap after each round according to the progression of the meet average.

Three teams shared the five skins of $200 last year, while Arizona Airspeed won the $1,000 for the 1st place.

The Shamrock Showdown 2017 was the first time that SDC Rhythm XP won two outdoor rounds over Airspeed, and the 19-pointer in Round 9 was also worth $200 after handicap. This year, Rhythm will try to win the $1,000 which is surely also one of the main goals for the French national team in 4-way Open...