Home page

supported by:
Vigil Logo


National
Skydiving
League

226 Pecan Street
Deland FL 32724
tel: (386) 801-0804

© 2003 - 2024
All Rights Reserved


supported by:
In Time Scoring


Valid HTML Valid CSS!

Did You Know...

... that NSL Live Talk continues with an online conversation with SDC Rhythm XP?

USPA Nationals 2019
posted Apr 24th, 2020 - The NSL Live Talk series of online interviews continues with SDC Rhythm XP, the reigning U.S. outdoor champions and national team in 4-way Open for the FAI World Meet 2020.

As all other teams, the members spend the current meantime at their homes and with their families. JaNette and Steve Lefkowitz attended the online meeting at their house in Sebastian, Florida. Andrew Happick and Doug Barron were back in South Carolina near Chester, where they grew up with their families and in skydiving.

Andrew Starr is in North Carolina, where he is still on duty for the U.S. Army, even though the Golden Knights competition team is grounded, as well. New team videographer Justin Wageman spends his time in North Dakota, just a few miles from the Canadian border.

All Rhythm members connect with each other weekly for team updates, discussion of specific topics and some virtual engineering. They share a random draw and prepare the ten meet rounds together, including visualization of the sequences. Review of training and competition videos is a part of the team's online agenda, as well. They also maintain a schedule of physical training and follow it as a team.


NSL Live Talk with SDC Rhythm XP on 23 April 2020
First outdoor meet at the Shamrock Showdown 2007
SDC Rhythm XP have not been in real 4-way action since March 11th. It was shortly before the Shamrock Showdown was supposed to take place at Skydive City, which had to be canceled as all other indoor and outdoor events. The planning of virtual training began for all teams and competitors as soon as it became clear that skydiving centers and wind tunnels were closed.

SDC Rhythm XP have not only been switching to online training and meetings for the team purposes. JaNette and Steve Lefkowitz have also been offering online seminars for the Rhythm community twice a week.

It is a challenging time for professionals in the sport. The top teams and competitors are not only missing their regular training. State-employed teams, such as NMP PCH HayaBusa, Golden Knights or Qatar Tigers and Falcons, are at least in a secure financial position, and they only have to deal with the lack of training.

Most of the members of professional teams like SDC Rhythm XP or Arizona Airspeed are making their living within the skydiving world, and the corona virus crisis has a serious impact on their financial situation.


Shamrock Showdown 2007
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Avg
Rank AAA Class 8,7,C J,2,12 O,E,19,5 3,21,16 H,14,L,P M,13,17 K,9,1 G,4,N,B 6,11,20 18,F,A,22 Total Avg
1 Airspeed Odyssey  US  23 19 26 19 27 23 24 27 19 23 230 23.0
2 Fastrax  US  22 19 22 21 23 25 26 27 19 23 227 22.7
3 Golden Knights Black  US  22 19 27 20 25 22 23 25 17 22 222 22.2
4 Arcteryx  NO  19 17 21 18 22 20 22 22 17 19 197 19.7
5 Optic Nerve  US  16 14 16 14 19 17 17 16 13 15 157 15.7
6 Fastrax Blue  US  15 14 18 14 17 15 16 16 13 14 152 15.2
7 Teiwaz  US  16 14 16 14 15 17 16 16 11 13 148 14.8
8 Danish Blaze  DK  14 13 15 13 17 13 16 17 8 13 139 13.9
9 Golden Leaf  CA  15 12 14 12 13 14 13 11 11 13 128 12.8
9 DeLand Groove  US  21 19 24 19 23 22 - - - - 128 21.3
11 Chicas  DE  11 11 11 11 12 9 13 12 11 12 113 11.3
Rank AA Class 8,7 J,2,20 O,E,19 22,21 H,14,L M,13,15 K,9,1 G,4,N 6,11 18,F,A Total Avg
1 CSC Rhythm  US  12 11 12 9 13 11 12 13 10 6 109 10.9
2 FSC Wind Damaged  US  8 8 8 7 8 6 4 5 7 9 70 7.0
3 Total Chaos  US  9 8 9 8 7 3 - - - - 44 7.3
Rank A Class 8,7 J,2 O,E,19 C,21 H,L,P M,B,D K,9 G,4 6,N F,A,Q Total Avg
1 ZT Mal4mations  US  4 5 5 3 7 8 5 3 4 6 50 5.0

First outdoor meet of the current lineup at the Shamrock Skowdown 2016
The topic of the different groups of teams and competitors in the sport (Professional - Full-Time - Amateurs) has recently come up again with the NSL News stories that covered the battles of the "amateur teams" for their own unofficial top spot. The conversation with SDC Rhythm XP included the team's position in the professional skydiving world.

As most other top teams and competitors in the world, the current SDC Rhythm XP members all started as amateurs in the sport. Original Rhythm members and team founders JaNette and Steve Lefkowitz, both graduates of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), were the first ones to drop their previous jobs and turn into professional skydivers.

Andrew Happick and Doug Barron, their latest team mates, followed their example in 2016. They were both graduates of the Virginia Tech University and then decided to become full-time skydivers. SDC Rhythm XP's new team videographer Justin Wageman does not have to make the same transition. He is able to keep his university position that offers him enough flexibility so far. However, it is also a new situation for him, and he is still learning the new ways with a professional team.

This topic was discussed during the conversation, while the recent NSL News step into the past, with a review of an interview with mental trainer John J. DeRosalia, connected with the current situation, as well. Teams and competitors have a lot of time at the moment to work on their mental skills...


Shamrock Showdown 2016
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Avg
Rank AAA Class 3,13,9 G,6,21 10,20,11 18,4,B F,1,14 19,5,7 P,Q,16,A C,15,M,12 J,L,K,2 E,O,22,17 Total Avg
1 Arizona Airspeed  US  23    24    19    22 -1 24    24    29    25    29    24    243 24.3
2 Aerodyne French Girls  FR  21    22    17    21    23    20 -3 27    21 -1 27    22 -1 221 22.1
3 Qatar Tigers  QA  19    22    16    21    19    19    29    20    28    22    215 21.5
4 SDC Rhythm XP  US  19    19    15    19    21    20    26 -2 19    25    21    204 20.4
5 Satori XL  UK  19    18 -1 16    20    19    20    26 -1 18 -2 24    22    202 20.2
6 TurBu 2.0  US  15 -1 19    15    15 -1 19    20    24 -1 15 -1 21 -1 20    183 18.3
7 Teiwaz  US  11 -2 13 -1 12    13    12 -2 13 -2 16    11    17    12    130 13.0

comments / feedback
Previous Article | Next Article