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supported by:
226 Pecan Street
Deland FL 32724
tel: (386) 801-0804
© 2003 - 2024
All Rights Reserved
supported by:
They show both teams on their top performance levels. Airspeed followed up on the 31.6 average at the Wind Games 2018 just a few weeks ago with a 31.5 at Paraclete. The NSL News mentioned after the event in Empuriabrava that the 31.6 average was the highest Airspeed result in a regular 10-round meet.
SDC Rhythm XP lifted last year's meet average at Paraclete (26.0) to 28.8 last weekend, which is a new indoor team record for a regular 10-round meet, as well.
The outcome at Paraclete XP is still the better one for Airspeed, even though Rhythm's 2.8 average increase between 2017 and 2018 alone is impressive enough. Airspeed went from 25.7 to 31.5 with one year of training for the new lineup, and the indoor situation is not very promising for the challenger, at least not at this point in time.
Paraclete XP Indoor 2018 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | Avg | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | AAA Class | 6,P,O,9 | N,1,21 | D,J,E,K,14 | 8,Q,L,5 | 10,12,F | 3,19,22 | 17,B,20 | 11,13,7 | C,16,18 | H,M,A,G,15 | Total | Avg |
| 1 | Arizona Airspeed | 40 | 26 | 45 | 33 | 27 | 21 | 33 | 25 | 26 | 39 | 315 | 31.5 |
| 2 | SDC Rhythm XP | 37 | 27 | 40 | 28 | 24 | 22 | 26 | 22 | 25 | 37 | 288 | 28.8 |
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 | 25 | 30 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 23 | 23 | 260 | 26.0 |
| 2 | Arizona Airspeed | 21 | 29 | 25 | 31 | 27 | 29 | 23 | 25 | 23 | 24 | 257 | 25.7 |
However, the 31.5 average in Raeford after the 31.6 in Spain was still not much more than the confirmation of a challenging job for the U.S. 4-way champion: NMP PCH HayaBusa is still quite far ahead.
The team is fully aware of the strong Belgian position, as Niklas Hemlin explained during the conversation with HayaBusa coach Gary Smith after the conclusion of the competition in Raeford.
The ten rounds and the confrontation with Rhythm were 
more or less also a test of the results after the recent work with coach Solly Williams in specific areas of the team skills.
Airspeed is mainly focused on the outcome at the FAI World Meet 2018 in Australia, where the 2-time Belgian outdoor world champions of 2014 and 2016 will be waiting at an outdoor competition.
The results of the Paraclete XP indoor meet may be disappointing for Rhythm or not. Fact is that 4-way outdoor competition is a different world that only applies the same dive pool and rules. The outdoor history between Rhythm and Airspeed has not changed and has still been very promising throughout the USPA Nationals 2017 where the challenger was closer to the Airspeed champions than ever before.
The upcoming Shamrock Showdown 2018 could have a very different outcome than the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship, and Rhythm will be eager to turn the 27-point indoor difference back to a close outdoor race in DeLand. The Belgians will study carefully what Airspeed and the French national teams will have to offer at this point in time.
Airspeed and HayaBusa will have their next showdown at the World Challenge 2018, where the U.S. team will try what Rhythm is working on in the United States: Getting closer to the top team...