posted Aug 13th, 2020 - The recent USPA update that the NSL News covered yesterday included several videos that were recorded at the USPA Nationals 2008 and have not been published on SKYLEAGUE.COM until now. It was a very interesting coincidence that one of the interviews had host and Skydive Arizona's owner Larry Hill on the PD-TV stage, together with USPA's executive director Ed Scott.

Albert Berchtold, who will succeed Ed Scott in January 2021, had set up the stage for Performance Designs and the NSL News, and Ed Scott introduced himself at the first national championship that he attended. The host of the interview, who staid behind the PD-TV camera, is now moving into the same USPA office 13 years later.

There was much more video footage of the USPA Nationals 2008 that has not been available yet for the NSL News audience, and the updates from the NSL archives continue. This time, the new video footage connects the past with the present with another very contemporary topic, the U.S. national team in 4-way Open, SDC Rhythm XP.

The NSL News has covered the history of the team with many stories, including the USPA gold medals in the Advanced Class of 2008. The event took place at Skydive Perris, which has been Christy Frikken's home DZ for many years.

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USPA Nationals 2008			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		2,10,5	F,C,3,H	J,O,4,N	20,M,E,11	13,12,L	9,A,19	18,22,D	21,17,P	6,14,Q	B,1,G,7	Total	Avg
1	Airspeed Odyssey	US	20	31	28	23	20	30	18	24	22	26	242	24.2
2	Maubeuge	FR	19	29	27	22	20	29	20	22	21	26	235	23.5
3	Black Cat	RU	18	27	29	23	18	25	20	20	21	25	226	22.6
4	Perris Fury	US	18	28	24	23	18	23	17	21	21	25	218	21.8
5	Golden Knights Gold	US	19	28	26	20	19	25	15	21	21	21	215	21.5
6	Aerokart Mamba Pamiers	FR	17	28	25	19	16	25	16	18	19	20	203	20.3
7	Performance Desired	US	15	28	25	20	17	25	14	18	19	21	202	20.2
8	Arizona Divewerkz	US	15	25	23	19	17	19	16	19	16	21	190	19.0
9	Nice Maubeuge Holidays	FR	17	22	19	19	16	22	14	21	18	19	187	18.7
10	Ocean 5	RU	14	24	21	19	15	22	16	17	16	22	186	18.6
11	Spaceland Directe XP	US	13	22	22	17	16	22	14	19	17	18	180	18.0
12	Inept	US	14	19	22	19	12	22	14	16	16	20	174	17.4
13	Sebastian Tempest	US	13	22	21	17	16	17	12	16	17	20	171	17.1
1	CSC Rhythm XP	US	15	19	22	16	12	21	14	16	16	18	169	16.9
14	Mass Defiance	US	15	23	22	20	13	23	15	17	18	1	167	16.7
15	Fastrax Blue	US	12	16	22	17	13	21	13	16	17	18	165	16.5
16	Paraclete XP	US	14	18	19	15	13	15	13	16	18	20	161	16.1
17	Cross Road	RU	13	20	21	17	14	19	12	10	17	16	159	15.9
18	Anzus	AU	11	22	19	16	13	19	11	16	14	17	158	15.8
19	Monaco Pujaut Aerial	FR	12	17	19	13	13	19	11	15	13	14	146	14.6
20	Quattro	US	11	18	15	11	7	14	10	13	12	14	125	12.5
21	Sopranos	US	10	15	15	13	8	16	10	10	11	13	121	12.1

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Christy Frikken and SDC Rhythm XP did not even post their scores on the same leaderboard by then. However, the 2008 Rhythm lineup (JaNette Lefkowitz and Steve Lefkowitz, Brian Ball, Laurent Beaudouin, Kevin Nafzger on camera) had already begun comparing their scores with the teams on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard.

Rhythm had an internal competition with Sebastian Tempest across the two separate leaderboards (Open - Advanced). Tempest, with future Arizona Airspeed members Thiago Gomes and Ari Perelman in the lineup, won by two points, and both teams eventually joined forces for the PD Tempest 1X2 lineup in 8-way Open.

There was neither a connection between SDC Rhythm XP and Perris Fury or Christy Frikken, nor with Sebastian Tempest at that time. However, the Rhythm lineup of 2010 - 2012 became the next step for Thiago Gomes before he joined Arizona Airspeed in 2013. His Tempest team mate Ari Perelman followed him in 2017, and they spent two more years together as Airspeed members.

Christy Frikken had almost a very similar story with her Perris Fury team mate Chris Farina. She joined SDC Rhythm XP in 2013 at the same time when Chris Farina left the team to join Airspeed's 2013 lineup. Christy Frikken's and Chris Farina's Perris Fury team mate Josh Hall had just left Airspeed after winning FAI 4-way gold in Dubai 2012.

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Christy Frikken, Perris Fury and SDC Rhythm XP members at the USPA Nationals 2008

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Christy Frikken, SDC Rhythm XP's newest member and current inside center, and her Perris Fury team mates did not even think of a time with SDC Rhythm XP or Arizona Airspeed in 2008. They were committed to catch up to the U.S. top level and defeat Airspeed eventually.

Christy Frikken was mostly engaged with organizing her large 4-way and 8-way delegation on her home turf at Skydive Perris when the NSL News asked her a few question. Perris Fury won their first USPA medals in the 4-way Open Class with the 2nd place, still far behind Arizona Airspeed, and three points ahead of the strong Golden Knights Gold lineup.

Original Fury members Christy Frikken, Chris Farina, Josh Hall and Uli Stuwe continued together until 2010 and could not turn their runner-up position behind Airspeed into USPA gold medals. Only Josh Hall (2012) and Chris Farina (2014) made it to FAI world meets to compete for the U.S. delegation after joining Airspeed.

Christy Frikken is now making her own world meet move in a different way. SDC Rhythm XP invited her to replace JaNette Lefkowitz after winning the qualification at the USPA Nationals 2019. The NSL News will soon follow up on the 2008 interview with a longer NSL Live Talk next week.