posted Aug 28th, 2019 - The UK Nationals are over, and the first 2019 outdoor scores of the old and new 4-way champion are posted. NFTO defended the 2018 title successfully, and they are the strongest British 4-way team.

Fact is also that the 19.3 average is below the performance level that the British national team in 4-way Women was presenting last year. NFTO posted 20+ averages at three consecutive outdoor events in July, August and October. The 20.2 average at the FAI World Meet 2018 eventually won the silver medals in Australia.

The 1st place at the national championship was important and meaningful for the team. However, NFTO is looking more at the international situation in 4-way Women where they try to get closer to the French world champions than they were in October last year.

Both teams have not met each other again ever since, even though NFTO attended four international indoor meets during the winter season. Nephtys Weembi competed for France at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2018 in Bahrain, and Sophia Pecout and Christine Malnis joined Weembi High Rollers for the indoor season, including the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019.

---

UK Nationals 2019			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		2,H,7	17,M,J,4	F,13,A,P	20,15,Q	10,21,1	12,22,C	9,E,11	D,K,L,8	O,18,B,16	6,5,19	Total	Avg
1	NFTO	UK	21	22	28	17	15	15	18	18	20	19	193	19.3
2	Chimera	UK	20	20	26	15	15	13	22	20	17	19	187	18.7
3	Eros	UK	21	20	25	17	15	14	19	19	18	17	185	18.5
4	4mula	UK	19	18	24	16	14	14	19	18	18	15	175	17.5
5	Pajama Pumas	UK	16	17	19	12	11	11	16	16	14	12	144	14.4
6	H40	IE	13	15	17	13	11	10	14	16	11	11	131	13.1
7	Game of Clowns	UK	15	11	17	9	11	10	13	14	11	12	123	12.3
8	Quadriga	UK	13	14	17	7	10	11	14	14	5	11	116	11.6
9	Draconis	UK	11	12	16	8	10	8	16	11	11	11	114	11.4
10	Alola	UK	12	12	17	8	9	8	14	12	12	9	113	11.3
11	Team	UK	13	11	11	7	10	8	12	11	10	10	103	10.3
12	Barely Grown Ups	UK	12	11	14	8	0	8	9	9	0	0	71	7.1
13	Free Burds	IE	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	9	5	7	30	3.0

---

The new French lineup posted their first outdoor scores before NFTO, at the Coupe de France in July, followed by the French Nationals a few weeks later. In fact, they had national coach Mathieu Bernier in the lineup for the Coupe de France, filling in for Christine Malnis.

The complete lineup then posted the 20.4 average at the national championships.

At that time, it seemed like NFTO was in a promising situation, as the changes in the French lineup, with new tail Gaelle Giesen and new slots for all other returning team members, had to be digested and required training.

The French Formation Skydiving delegation has given the 8-way team priority, and there would not be much training time available for the two 4-way teams.

NFTO even increased their outdoor training schedule this year and started working more intensively with coach Roy Janssen. The French 20.4 averages in July seemed to be well within reach.

---

UK Nationals 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		2,H,7		17,M,J,4		F,13,A,P		20,15,Q		10,21,1		12,22,C		9,E,11		D,K,L,8		O,18,B,16		6,5,19		Total	Avg
1	NFTO	UK	21		22	-1	28		17		15	-1	15		18	-1	18	-1	20		19		193	19.3

July 12th, 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		C,5,N,A		E,10,F,15		9,3,D		4,8,11		12,7,1		18,21,K		B,16,H,M		P,G,22,19		J,Q,17,6		20,13,14		Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Hauts de France	FR	27		19	-1	24		13	-2	16	-1	18		26	-1	21		24		16		204	20.4
Jul 31st, 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		14,9,P		K,5,16		D,13,Q,7		1,21,O		22,E,18		N,G,10,B		19,8,17		M,15,11		-		-		Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Cypres Lille-Bondues	FR	20	-2	20		25		21		15		23		18		21		-		-		163	20.4

---

This has not changed, even though NFTO obviously performed below expectations at the national championship last week. Chimera and Eros both improved their meet averages significantly with the same competition draw, while NFTO could not take advantage of the 2019 outdoor training at this point in time.

The French delegation is probably just as relieved seeing that NFTO has not moved dangerously ahead as NFTO were probably excited that the French 4-way Women team was within striking distance in July.

Both teams may have been more surprised than expected by the impact of the changes after the world meet in Australia. The French Nationals 2019 was the first outdoor meet for the new French team, as were the British Nationals for NFTO.

Despite the possibly higher expectations on both sides, the scores have created an exciting situation for the upcoming FAI Outdoor World Cup, where the world's currently best teams in 4-way Women will use the same competition draw for a 10-round thriller. Both 4-way Women teams will also be visiting Eloy as the best 4-way Open Class teams in their respective countries...