posted Nov 11th, 2020 - The story of the competition between SDC Rhythm XP and Arizona Airspeed began in 2007, the year when CSC Rhythm appeared at 4-way meets for the first time. Both teams posted their scores on the same 4-way AAA/Open Class leaderboard and became direct opponents two years later, at the USPA Nationals 2009.

Rhythm had won the USPA gold medals in the 4-way AAA/Advanced Class competition a year earlier with a new 16.9 USPA record average in this category, and they had plans to get to the top of the 4-way world at some time in the future. Ten years after their first appearance on the same leaderboard in 2009 SDC Rhythm XP achieved the unthinkable and defeated Arizona Airspeed at the USPA Nationals 2019 after a dramatic finish with a jump-off extra round.

Rhythm was not really a challenging opponent for Airspeed in the early years. However, they reduced the distance to Airspeed consistently, and it became really dangerous for the undefeated U.S. 4-way team of many years beginning in 2017. It was a year after Andrew Happick and Doug Barron had joined Rhythm when the new lineup finished only six points behind Airspeed at the USPA Nationals.

Airspeed rebuilt the lineup after the USPA Nationals 2019, and both teams now have their eyes mostly on the top spot in the world that NMP PCH HayaBusa has been holding since 2014.

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Outdoor scoring progression of Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP between 2007 and 2020

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The consistent pressure that the two U.S. teams have been putting on each other since at least 2017 has been very productive. The most recent scores of the NSL Cloud Mondial 2020 are showing that both were within HayaBusa striking distance in several rounds of the online competition.

Airspeed even outscored the Belgians in two rounds ( 6 - 8) and tied another one (9). Rhythm have completed five of the eleven rounds so far and were only one point behind HayaBusa in Round 9 and Round 10. HayaBusa's former inside center and new videographer David Grauwels said during the NSL Live Talk and the evaluation of the currently posted rounds that his team cannot be complacent and must keep working on the progression.

The current scores of the NSL Cloud Mondial are promising for SDC Rhythm XP and might be even somehow surprising for Arizona Airspeed. The new Airspeed lineup has been together in training and competition longer than the new Rhythm lineup with Christy Frikken. There is only a 3-point difference between the two U.S. teams after the five rounds that both posted scores and videos for.

Airspeed had won the re-match after the USPA Nationals at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2019 by 18 points, and Rhythm have closed the wide gap very quickly.

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NSL Cloud Mondial 2020			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		22,21,M		5,C,J,H		7,3,6		10,E,9		18,L,B,F		D,20,15		17,P,A,1		8,Q,12		N,13,K,11		G,14,O,2		4,19,16		Total	Avg
-	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	21		40		25		26		34		22	-2	29		20		24		24		21		286	26.0
-	Arizona Airspeed	US	20	-1	36		23		23	-1	33		23		28	-1	21		24		23		19		273	24.8
-	SDC Rhythm XP	US	20	-1	36		21		-		-		-		-		-		23		23		-		123	24.6
-	Paraclete XPG4	US	17		22	-2	17		17		20	-1	17		21		16		17		17		13		194	17.6
-	Jerry and the Jets	US	16		18		15		16		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		65	16.3

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NSL Cloud Mondial 2020: Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP with Rounds 1 to 3 and 9 to 10

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The conditions are set for the next exciting showdown between Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP at the upcoming International 4-Way FS Skydiving Championships in Eloy, which begins on Friday next week.

Rhythm are currently in training at Skydive Sebastian, Airspeed on home turf at Skydive Arizona. Rhythm will hopefully be able to complete the leaderboard of the NSL Cloud Mondial before traveling to Arizona next week. The competition in Eloy will bring both teams together for the first time with their new lineups, at the same time and at the same place.

Four of the registered teams participated in the NSL Cloud Mondial by using the same competition draw. Paraclete XPG4 completed the eleven rounds in Raeford and will use the new opportunity to lift the scoring level closer to the 20-average mark. Jerry and the Jets performed the sequences for the first four rounds at Skydive Perris at the October meet of the Southern California Skydiving League. The NSL News will be live at the competition site next week.

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International 4-way FS Championships		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
-	Arizona Airspeed	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	SDC Rhythm XP	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	XPG4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Jerry and the Jets	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

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