posted Apr 23rd, 2018 - The most exciting part of the new FAI European Indoor Championship 2018 was the battle for the bronze medals. Aerodyne Realfly won the gold medals for France eight points ahead of Black Cat in the absence of NMP PCH HayaBusa, and the Russian national 4-way team had no opposition for the silver medals.

However, behind the gold and silver medal position, there was a fierce battle going on between Amnesya (Italy), Airheads (Switzerland) and Echochamber (Sweden). All three teams finished with new record averages, and Echochamber won the bronze medals with the cleanest performance of this trio.

The ten rounds were a roller-coaster for Amnesya who were the fastest team out of the starting blocks (Rounds 1 - 2) and then lost the competition for the bronze medals in just the following two rounds. The Italian team won the total of the remaining six rounds (179 - 175 - 174) and was still too far behind after Round 4.

The competition was very different between the bronze medal winners from Sweden and the Swiss Airheads who were never separated by more than one point before the last two rounds of the competition.

FAI European Indoor Championship 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total		Avg
Rank	AAA Class		G,12,20		F,16,22		N,E,D,21		17,L,4		18,14,O		19,2,5		7,15,Q		6,B,M,P		K,11,9		8,H,J,C		Total		Avg
1	Aerodyne Realfly	FR	25		29		39		31		26		26		32		45		33		38		324		32.4
2	Black Cat	RU	23		31		36		32		25		26		32		46		30		35		316		31.6
3	Echochamber	SE	21	-1	26		34		27		23		23	-1	29	-2	38	-1	27	-2	35	-1	283	-8	28.3
4	Airheads	CH	21	-2	26		35		26	-1	22	-2	23		29		40	-1	28	-2	32	-4	282	-12	28.2
5	Amnesya	IT	21	-1	28		29	-2	22	-3	24		22		29	-1	39	-2	27	-2	38	-3	279	-14	27.9
6	ACM Weembi	UK	19		24		29		24		20		22		29		35		25		28		255		25.5
7	FlySpot Sky4Four	PL	16		18		20		19		17		16		21		25		21		20		193		19.3
8	Skydive University Slovakia	SK	14		18		21		17		15		14		19		27		21		25		191		19.1
9	Norway	NO	13		14		19		13		14		15		16		26		19		15		164		16.4
10	HF Bad Boys	CZ	16		22		22		21		-		-		-		-		-		-		81		20.3

Echochamber's Martin Bäcklin recalled the situation at the beginning of the last meet day:

"We all knew this day would require our full attention and focus, in order to make our dream come true. Both remaining rounds had a 'random-touch' to them, slightly favoring our opponents which historically had proven somewhat stronger on the speedier rounds."

However, Echochamber felt confident with Block 11 and Block 9 coming up in Round 9, and Block 8 (Canadian T - Canadian T) has been one of the strongest weapons in the team's technical arsenal: "Being squeezed into the quick random sequence in the final round didn't discourage us, in fact quite the opposite."

Echochamber still lost another point in Round 9 and were now two points behind going into the grande finale:

"The tactics for Round 10 were quite simple; we simply had to outrun our opponents, flat out burn it - nothing to lose! Realistically we would have a chance at closing the distance, and hopefully giving us the second chance of a tiebreak round." Martin Bäcklin said that the Round 10 showdown was "truly nerve wrecking!"

The teams were gathered in front of the judging screen knowing about the tight situation in the race for the bronze medals and waiting for the final showdown.

Echochamber started with a 35-pointer after one point deduction, and Airheads completed the same number of formations in working time. However, four point deductions put the Swiss team eventually one point behind Sweden in 4th place.

Amnesya were seven points behind Echochamber and nine points behind Airheads after Round 9 and could not win the bronze medals any longer. The Italian team still saved the best for last and tied the French highscore for the round (38) for a highlight and an impressive finish of the meet.

Even the opponents were very impressed, as bronze medalist Martin Bäcklin put it: "Next up the Italians really knocked us all out with their outstanding performance being the overall fastest team in Round 10, impressive!"

Echochamber now switches to outdoor training, which includes indoor training with skydiving gear and then exits from air planes. Coach Mattias Nord will be stepping in, as Martin Bäcklin is not able to take enough vacation time from work. The Swedish team is looking forward to the transition from indoor to outdoor training and competition after winning their first set of FAI medals...