posted Mar 21st, 2003 - The NSL News takes another leap in time, and the next update out of the unpublished archives connects once again past and present of Formation Skydiving competition. This time, it was the Italian team Sinapsi PD, who met with with the NSL News for an interview during a training camp at Skydive DeLand and after the completion of the Shamrock Showdown 2003. The original lineup had worked their way up to the world's 4-way top level, and three team members would eventually win bronze medals for Italy at the FAI World Meet 2006, with Pete Allum in the lineup, and two points behind the 2nd place.

Original team members Marco Arrigo, Livio Piccolo and Luca Marchioro are still active. Luca Marchioro helped Amnesya, with new NMP PCH HayaBusa member Michele Silvi in the lineup, to win the Italian Nationals 2018. Livio Piccolo joined Italy's national indoor and outdoor team last year and will compete at his next world meet in Tanay 2021. Marco Arrigo has been coaching the German national 8-way team Airbus and is also in the Airbus 4-way lineup. The introduction of the interview in 2003 provided a brief overview:

"The Italian national 4-way team, Sinapsi PD, shocked the skydiving world in a positive way last weekend. By finishing the Shamrock Showdown 2003 with a 21.3 meet average, ahead of the Golden Knights, the team catapulted itself from the position of a well respected team behind the top group into a strong medal contender for this year's World Championship of Formation Skydiving in September in France. Before the team travels back to Europe, the NSL News invited Sinapsi PD to the NSL DeLand office for an interview. Sinapsi PD consists of outside center Arianna De Benedetti (24 years, 2000 jumps), inside center Luca Marchioro (30 years, 4000 jumps), point Livio Piccolo (26 years, 5500 jumps), tail Marco Arrigo (32 years, 4000 jumps) and videographer Stefano Secchiaroli (24 years, 1000 jumps)."

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NSL News interview with Sinapsi PD on 21 March 2003

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NSL NEWS: Arianna, Marco, Livio, Luca, congratulations for Sinapsi PD's highest average in team history. Are you happy? MARCO ARRIGO: Yes. It was a great competition. We still made a lot of mistakes, especially in the first round. There remains a lot of work to do. However, after additional 400 jumps, we will hopefully be even better. But we are not thinking of winning the world meet yet.

NSL NEWS: Are you dreaming of a chance to win now? ARIANNA DE BENEDETTI: It is always a good thing to have dreams. We know that it is very, very hard. The difference between first and fifth place will be very close.

NSL NEWS: Let's take a step back. When did this Sinapsi lineup make the first team jump? LUCA MARCHIORO: We had our first training camp in Italy in November 2001 and made 80 jumps. Then we trained in Deland for the next camp. That was the camp before we came to compete at SkyQuest 2001, our first competition with this team.

NSL NEWS: How many jumps has the team done ever since? LIVIO PICCOLO: 1000. NSL NEWS: You broke already all Italian records unofficially at the Shamrock Showdown 2002 with a 17.8 meet average and 27 points for the highest round. You followed up with the official records at the World Cup 2002 with a 19.4 average. Last weekend, Sinapsi set new unofficial records once again with 21.3 and 28. Is a new official record due again at the world meet in September? LUCA MARCHIORO: We will of course do this, since 19.4 average is still the official Italian record. We have no doubt that we can improve this old mark.

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Shamrock Showdown 2003			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		N,E,A,16	9,B,18	4,C,15	8,13,12	7,5,P	L,21,F,J	G,3,H,22	M,2,10	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Majik	US	28	25	17	16	23	29	21	18	177	22.1
2	Sinapsi PD	IT	23	24	19	15	24	28	19	18	170	21.3
3	Golden Knights	US	26	24	19	17	19	27	17	19	168	21.0
4	Synchronicity	US	20	18	14	11	16	20	14	14	127	15.9
5	Phoenix	SE	20	17	14	11	19	22	16	-	119	17.0
6	Sebastian DaneZ	DK	14	14	15	11	15	18	14	11	112	14.0
7	Sebastian Teiwaz	US	15	14	14	11	13	16	12	12	107	13.4
8	Mr. Pink	US	15	14	11	10	15	16	12	11	104	13.0
9	Spaceland Inferno	US	16	12	12	8	11	18	13	8	98	12.3
10	Chikara	US	15	14	12	8	13	17	11	7	97	12.1
11	UBI	UK	13	12	11	8	9	11	11	11	86	10.8
12	Remscheid	DE	11	10	9	7	9	6	-	-	52	8.7

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NSL NEWS: Do you think that you can also break the new unofficial record of 21.3 average? ARIANNA DE BENEDETTI: We want to think that it is possible. We have still our 400 training jumps before the world meet. And we should be better after that. It all depends on the draw, of course.

NSL NEWS: If you are on a performance level as high as you are, how much should you improve with 400 jumps? What do you think Sinapsi can score after these additional 400 jumps? MARCO ARRIGO: The Pilatus Porter will always slow down the average a little bit. The exit is more difficult. However, a 21+ average for a 10-round meet would be great for us. It will be a tough competition, and the team with the most energy and power will win.

NSL NEWS: Did you see yourself already as a part of the world's top teams before the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2003? ALL SINAPSI MEMBERS: No, really not. LUCA MARCHIORO: We did the Valentine's Meet draw during the last training camp. And it was the first time that we could stay close to Airspeed and the Golden Knights. We lost by only two points on the first attempts. After some re-engineering, we even beat both teams by one point. However, that was training and not real competition.

NSL NEWS: This means that you knew that you could beat the Golden Knights before you entered the Shamrock Showdown 2003. Did you think that this could also happen in a real competition? LUCA MARCHIORO: Not really, since we know that training is very different than competition. We thought that we could win a round here and there and be close. But that was it.

NSL NEWS: Do you think that Sinapsi PD had a great meet, or did the Golden Knights have a bad one? LUCA MARCHIORO: The Knights made mistakes, but we made mistakes, as well. ARIANNA DE BENEDETTI: After the first round, we had a great competition. The Golden Knights surely made more mistakes than we did.

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FAI World Meet 2003			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		1,11,12	M,J,E,10	K,16,6	13,14,5	D,22,4	9,C,Q,N	F,19,21	2,20,L	18,B,3	8,P,7	Total	Avg
1	Maubeuge	FR	16	26	23	19	21	37	24	21	19	23	229	22.9
2	Golden Knights	US	17	24	22	19	18	35	22	18	19	20	214	21.4
3	DeLand Norgies	NO	13	24	21	19	18	36	19	16	19	21	206	20.6
4	Sebastian XL	UK	14	22	21	19	17	34	21	18	19	20	205	20.5
5	Sinapsi PD	IT	13	24	22	17	17	32	22	18	18	-	183	20.3
6	Endeavour	CH	13	21	19	15	17	29	21	17	16	-	168	18.7
7	NMPV	BE	15	19	19	16	15	29	19	16	16	-	164	18.2
8	EADS	DE	14	19	17	15	15	26	17	16	16	-	155	17.2
9	Wild Wind	RU	15	22	18	15	18	22	17	8	-	-	135	16.9
10	Phenix	SE	13	18	15	15	16	23	18	16	-	-	134	16.8
11	Spain	ES	12	17	14	15	17	23	16	14	-	-	128	16.0
12	Denmark	DK	6	19	14	12	14	23	17	15	-	-	120	15.0
13	Japan	JP	12	16	14	12	13	24	14	14	-	-	119	14.9
14	Netherlands	NL	11	16	14	13	13	21	15	11	-	-	114	14.3
15	Australia	AU	11	14	12	13	13	23	15	12	-	-	113	14.1
16	Bailey 5	ZA	11	10	14	11	13	19	15	13	-	-	106	13.3
16	Monkey Circus	AT	11	13	13	13	8	20	16	12	-	-	106	13.3
18	Canada	CA	11	15	13	11	12	18	12	12	-	-	104	13.0
19	Slovenia	SI	10	12	11	9	9	16	13	11	-	-	91	11.4
20	New Zealand	NZ	8	11	9	7	10	16	10	11	-	-	82	10.3
21	Skyservice	CZ	5	8	9	7	5	11	10	8	-	-	63	7.9
22	Israel	IL	1	3	2	4	4	7	3	4	-	-	28	3.5

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NSL NEWS: How do you compare yourself with DeLand Majik? MARCO ARRIGO: They are still much better over a 10-round meet. NSL NEWS: At the world meet in Gap, France, you will compete with France Maubeuge, the Golden Knights, the DeLand Norgies and Sebastian XL. Are you glad that Majik will not be there? LUCA MARCHIORO: Yes. But it would also be very different for Majik from the Porter. However, we don't have to think about this.

NSL NEWS: Have you seen the Russian teams recently? What do you expect from them? LIVIO PICCOLO: I expect them to be very fast and aggressive. And they will make a lot of mistakes.

NSL NEWS: What are the Sinapsi members doing when you are not training? Is the whole team skydiving full time now? MARCO ARRIGO: No. I am still selling tiles. We spens approx. four months per year for training. I work the rest of the time. Livio and Arianna both work as full-time skydiving instructors in Fano, a full time skydiving center near Ancona. Luca works as a skydiving instructor at Aria Delta 47, a skydiving center in Casale, Monferrato.

NSL NEWS: Are you coaching teams in Italy, as well? ARIANNA DE BENEDETTI: Not yet. We work more as AFF instructors, videographers and riggers. NSL NEWS: Do you get financial support by your skydiving association? LUCA MARCHIORO: Only for the international competitions we attend.

NSL NEWS: Is there corporate sponsorship for teams in Italy? LIVIO PICCOLO: It is very difficult to find corporate sponsorship. We have one sponsor outside of the skydiving industry. We have product support from the skydiving industry. And we have cheap jump rates in Fano. However, generally, we still have to finance ourselves mostly.

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FAI World Meet 2006			1	2	3	4	5	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		N,20,16	K,J,C,G,3	D,19,B,6	L,14,10	F,17,M,2	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Fire	US	20	27	25	17	28	117	23.4
2	Gap Nice Icarius Autrement	FR	17	25	23	21	25	111	22.2
3	Sinapsi PD	IT	19	26	22	19	24	110	22.0
4	Sky Panthers Barkli	RU	21	23	23	17	25	109	21.8
5	Arcteryx	NO	18	25	21	17	24	105	21.0
6	Spa HayaBusa	BE	19	25	18	17	23	102	20.4
7	EADS	DE	17	23	20	16	18	94	18.8
8	Danez	DK	15	22	15	17	21	90	18.0
9	Spain	ES	16	18	17	14	19	84	16.8
9	Evolution	CA	15	14	19	14	22	84	16.8
11	Team 42	SE	13	20	17	14	17	81	16.2
11	British Army	UK	14	21	16	12	18	81	16.2
13	Voodoo	UK	15	20	15	12	18	80	16.0
14	Punky Fish	NL	16	13	17	14	19	79	15.8
15	Airtite	AU	12	17	17	13	17	76	15.2
16	FILA	AT	13	16	16	12	17	74	14.8
17	Japan	JP	12	18	14	12	15	71	14.2
18	CTR Optimum	BR	13	14	14	12	17	70	14.0
19	Sky Service	CZ	12	16	13	11	14	66	13.2
20	Lithuania	LT	9	14	11	9	8	51	10.2
21	New Zealand	NZ	10	11	11	7	11	50	10.0
22	Kazakhstan	KZ	8	6	7	6	13	40	8.0
23	Estonia	EE	4	7	7	7	9	34	6.8
24	Ireland	IE	6	6	7	4	6	29	5.8
25	Cyprus	CY	3	7	7	5	4	26	5.2

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NSL NEWS: Arianna, you are only 24 years old, as your website shows. When did you begin skydiving? ARIANNA DE BENEDETTI: I made my first AFF jump in 1999. NSL NEWS: How many jumps do you have by now? ARIANNA DE BENEDETTI: 2400.

NSL NEWS: Where and how did Sinapsi PD learn 4-way competition? ARIANNA DE BENEDETTI: France Maubeuge member Davide Moy was coaching the team before I joined. Then we hired Solly Williams when we trained in Deland. We train without a coach in Italy. And in Deland, we are still working with Solly.

NSL NEWS: You planned your Deland training this year around the Shamrock Showdown 2003. Was it worth it? ARIANNA DE BENEDETTI: It was very important to have a competition with the top teams to check where we are. Now we can start thinking about what we have to do from here on. MARCO ARRIGO: We have learned the difference between the top teams and us. We have good and bad rounds. The top teams are more consistent. We know now what it takes to become a real top team. The top teams can deliver a top performance in any competition. We have only shown it once yet, and only in certain rounds.

NSL NEWS: Good luck for the remainder of the year, and thank you for visiting. MARCO ARRIGO: One last thing. We would like to congratulate the NSL for organizing such a great event and also the NSL itself. It was a great and interesting competition, including the whole environment and features. Many people all over the world are very interested in such a competition. If I do not compete, I visit the NSL website and can be up-to-date through the NSL. NSL NEWS: Thank you, Marco.