posted Mar 5th, 2020 - The aftermath of the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2020 continues with the competition videos of Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP.

The story of this review has a special twist, not only because the two best U.S. teams came back together for their second showdown this year. Both had launched their 2020 season at the Wind Games in Spain at the end of January, and the situation is interesting in many other ways, as well.

SDC Rhythm XP is the U.S. national 4-way team for the FAI World Meet 2020 after winning the USPA Nationals 2019, while Arizona Airspeed has defeated Rhythm at the three next meets, first outdoors with the 2019 lineup at the FAI World Cup 2019, then twice with the new lineup at the Wind Games 2020 and last weekend at Paraclete XP.

SDC Rhythm XP had won the USPA Nationals with JaNette Lefkowitz in the lineup, and then competed with Golden Knights team captain Andrew Starr in her inside center slot at the Wind Games. Now she was back in the lineup for the next indoor competition, while Drew Starr competed with the Golden Knights in 4-way and 8-way. He will be with the U.S. Army team in 8-way and with Rhythm in 4-way at the upcoming Shamrock Showdown outdoor competition at Skydive City.

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Paraclete XP Indoor 2020			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		21,15,10	7,5,G	13,L,11	3,K,B,6	19,8,9	M,P,14,C	N,A,17,1	20,16,Q	F,22,D,H	0,2,4	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	22	34	27	27	27	32	35	27	37	27	295	29.5
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	23	35	26	25	26	34	31	25	35	27	287	28.7
3	Golden Knights Gold	US	21	28	24	24	25	28	29	22	29	24	254	25.4
4	Skydive Midwest NEXT	US	17	24	20	23	21	29	24	20	27	19	224	22.4
5	Befokte Dose	IN	15	24	20	24	19	28	23	20	27	19	219	21.9
6	XPG4	US	16	24	21	23	19	30	20	18	24	20	215	21.5
7	Aviatrixx	US	16	22	18	21	20	23	20	18	24	19	201	20.1
8	Golden Knights Black	US	16	20	18	17	18	22	20	14	22	18	185	18.5
9	Air Force Apollo	US	15	18	14	17	17	20	18	14	22	14	169	16.9
10	Air Force Angels	US	13	18	16	15	15	22	17	15	19	15	165	16.5

Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2020

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The next twist is related to NMP PCH HayaBusa, the reigning indoor and outdoor world champions. The Belgians attended their last indoor competition this year at the Wind Games and won over both U.S. teams. It was also David Grauwels' last indoor competition with the team, before new HayaBusa member Michele Silvi will take his slot after the outdoor world meet in August this year.

The Belgian world champions take the upcoming outdoor competition season very serious, which became obvious last week. NMP PCH HayaBusa was training at Skydive City in Florida, while Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP both competed at Paraclete XP. HayaBusa were following the leaderboard very carefully and have been waiting for the competition videos.

SDC Rhythm XP's lineup with inside center Drew Starr had posted a new team record average at the Wind Games and moved significantly closer to the Belgian top level. In fact, both U.S. teams with their new lineups cut into the Belgian lead in Spain.

HayaBusa had decided not to stay in Florida through the Shamrock Showdown and are back in Belgium, while Rhythm bring back Drew Starr for the showdown with Qatar Tigers at Skydive City and for the remainder of the outdoor season. Only Airspeed members Niklas Hemlin and Mikhail Markine will compete at the Shamrock Showdown, where Airspeed XP8 will be facing the French national 8-way team, Qatar Falcons and Golden Knights.

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Wind Games 2020			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		Q,F,6,14		1,13,4		8,J,15		O,9,D,5		21,A,P,H		N,C,20,12		7,G,K,19		10,16,22		17,E,11		M,B,3,L		Total	Avg
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	34		24	-1	29		45	-2	41		29		34	-1	23		34		39	-1	332	33.2
3	SDC Rhythm XP	US	33		25		27	-1	44	-1	41		26		30	-3	23		30	-2	41	-2	320	32.0

Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP at the Wind Games 2020

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The Paraclete XP Indoor Championship was Arizona Airspeed's second competition with Chris Kuhlmann and Joey Marshall in the lineup, who won their first national 4-way championship title. However, Rhythm finished closer to Airspeed than in Spain and reduced the deficit from 12 points (320 - 332) at the Wind Games to eight points (287 - 295) last weekend.

In fact, Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP were still tied after Round 6, and only the last round of the first meet day changed the situation to a 4-point difference. Airspeed then did not give a round away for the remainder of the meet.

Former Ranch 2nd Generation videographer Kamuran "Sonic" Bayrasli is still the biggest fan of his former team mates, and he visited Paraclete XP just to follow the competition and cheer for the new Arizona Airspeed and Airspeed XP8 members. It was the first time for him to watch Joey Marshall and Chris Kuhlmann live in competition action for Arizona Airspeed.

He could also enjoy the performance of former R2G members Michelle Karamon and Jeana Billings in 4-way and in 8-way both. They won the 8-way competition and introduced their new XPG4 lineup, with Tamara Bartlett and Irina Meshcheryakova, in the flying chamber. The NSL-TV camera caught Sonic close to the chamber wall at Airspeed's last round...