posted Nov 30th, 2018 - SDC Rhythm XP has not been making the NSL News headlines much since the USPA Nationals 2018. It was a difficult year for the world class team that has been performing in the shadow of the Arizona Airspeed 4-way giant in the United States for many years.

Rhythm was closer to Airspeed than ever before (252 - 258) at the USPA Nationals 2017, as the NSL News had reported on 7 October 2017. Airspeed became the US national team for the FAI World Meet 2018 and began to pull away again from the domestic challenger in the preparations for the showdown with NMP PCH HayaBusa in Australia.

The attention shifted even more towards Airspeed between this year's USPA Nationals and the world meet, while SDC Rhythm XP was dealing with the situation after tail Doug Barron got severely injured earlier this year. Rhythm had competed with former member Rob Radez at the USPA Nationals and could not threaten Airspeed in any way. However, Rhythm still defended the USPA silver medals successfully with Rob Radez and continued to take care of the franchise business.

Doug Barron traveled to Australia during his recovery, where the NSL News had a conversation with him and coach Gary Smith on October 11th. He was in great spirits and was looking forward to coming back into action very soon.

USPA Nationals 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		O,4,9	G,21,A,H	N,D,J,14	L,16,12	K,19,6	E,2,10	P,11,15	17,3,22	F,7,1	Q,5,M,20	Total	Avg
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	27	32	29	22	24	22	21	23	29	29	258	25.8
3	SDC Rhythm XP	US	29	31	28	23	22	20	23	19	28	29	252	25.2

Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP at the USPA Nationals 2017

JaNette Lefkowitz told the NSL News that SDC Rhythm XP is already back to indoor 4-way training with Doug Barron, and that the team is making plans for the 2019 season. Doug Barron made it through a recent indoor training camp with two hours of flying time in three days. His recovery is obviously going very well. His rear piece partner said that it feels like there has not even been a break.

The indoor training will continue, and Rhythm plans to compete with the complete lineup again at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2019 in February, then again at next year's World Challenge in Bedford.

Doug Barron expects to get back into freefall and to land his parachute again in April 2019. SDC Rhythm XP will still attend the Shamrock Showdown 2019, again with a substitute. Rob Radez and former SDMW NEXT member Megan George have been filling open slots this year for Rhythm. JaNette Lefkowitz could not tell yet who will be in the tail slot in March in DeLand.

Andrew Happick, JaNette and Steve Lefkowitz will continue with Paraclete XP's 8-way team and challenge the Golden Knights next year while training and competing with Doug Barron in 4-way. The Paraclete XP Summer Classic will probably be the first outdoor meet with him. USPA Nationals 2019 and FAI World Cup in Eloy are the high-profile events at the end of the outdoor season.

USPA Nationals 2018		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	J,19,K,22	P,13,A,E	H,G,Q,B,21	9,2,L	C,14,4	O,16,3	1,15,10	M,20,11	F,D,18,6	5,12,17	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	23	29	34	28	23	24	19	24	26	25	255	25.5
2	SDC Rhythm XP	20	25	33	26	20	18	17	21	23	20	223	22.3

Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP at the USPA Nationals 2018

Doug Barron's indoor comeback felt like a new beginning for the Rhythm members. They know that they will not be able to catch up with Arizona Airspeed any time soon. However, all current team members are committed to the long-term Rhythm project.

JaNette Lefkowitz said that her team will be happy to be back at the same performance level where Rhythm was at the USPA Nationals 2017 and then continue from there. Airspeed will be too far away for a serious challenge of the US top spot at that time, and the next competitive situation for a world meet qualification between both teams could be expected in 2021.

In the meantime, JaNette Lefkowitz has continued to develop the new Rhythm 401 application, which follows up on the Rhythm 101 program and provides the newest sophisticated training tool for 4-way teams and competitors. The program is in the final stage of the testing process, while it is available on the market by now.

Rhythm 401 includes everything that 4-way teams and competitors need in their pockets to be ready for the next training camp or competition. The program will also be updated regularly with SDC Rhythm XP training and competition videos. Beginning in April, Doug Barron will also be back in the video updates...