posted May 21st, 2021 - The NSL News covered the transition from AA/Intermediate Class to AAA/Advanced Class competition at the USPA Nationals in a series of stories at the beginning of the year. SDC Rhythm XP members Doug Barron and Andrew Happick, James "Bu" Klinge, Ranch 2nd Generation and SDMW NEXT played major roles in the topic.

There will be a new transition this year, as USPA introduces the A Class as a test event for the 2021 and 2022 championships. This new transition will probably become just as interesting as the one that became the topic for the NSL News previously. There is also the additional step that 4-way teams have been able to make at USPA Nationals, even though both categories, Open Class and Advanced Class, apply the same dive pool and rules (AAA).

U.S. 4-way teams will have the opportunity in the near future to win USPA medals in the A Class in the first year, follow up with AA/Intermediate next year, then with AAA/Advanced another year later, before ending up in the AAA/Open Class, where the future national teams and potential world champions compete.

It is naturally much more challenging for a USPA Advanced Class champion team to win the Open Class competition any time in the future, however, there is on example that will be the conclusion at the end of the new series, the Advanced Class history.

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USPA Nationals 1999		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Advanced	J,K,19,G	L,D,20,1	16,15,18	24,4,23	10,A,13	M,O,H,B,P	17,Q,2	F,E,7,21	12,9,8	C,3,22	Total	Avg
-	Optik Nerve	16	15	12	12	14	23	15	15	12	10	144	14.4
-	Elsinore Alpha	16	15	11	12	12	21	16	15	12	13	143	14.3
1	Frost	15	11	10	13	13	21	15	16	9	13	136	13.6
2	Euphoric	14	16	11	11	11	23	10	15	13	10	134	13.4
3	ZSpot	15	13	11	11	11	22	14	14	12	8	131	13.1
4	Sebastian TBA	16	15	3	11	11	22	10	16	11	9	124	12.4
5	Hinckley Mach 4	10	14	8	4	11	19	14	5	11	7	103	10.3
6	Perris Cruise O'Matic	14	16	9	11	11	19	7	12	2	1	102	10.2
7	Teiwaz	14	13	10	12	11	21	9	11	-	-	101	12.6
8	Elsinore High Pressure	13	11	7	9	8	15	12	11	9	-	95	10.6
9	Raeford Express	8	6	9	9	10	16	11	11	8	-	88	9.8
10	Fusion 4	9	6	7	9	9	14	10	12	-	-	76	9.5
11	Fun Luvin Freaks	13	9	8	6	8	12	10	9	-	-	75	9.4
12	Vertical Addiction	9	11	8	8	7	15	7	9	-	-	74	9.3
13	Mr. Pink	13	10	5	5	7	15	7	8	-	-	70	8.8
14	Block Heads	9	9	5	7	9	12	7	7	-	-	65	8.1
15	Windbreakers	8	11	5	7	7	13	1	10	-	-	62	7.8
16	Air Force	11	6	2	7	8	8	10	10	-	-	62	7.8
17	Random Axis	6	9	7	4	6	12	8	9	-	-	61	7.6
18	4ce Majeure	6	9	8	5	5	11	5	9	-	-	58	7.3
19	Elsinore Zulu	13	15	9	9	11	-	-	-	-	-	57	11.4
20	Flashpoint	12	9	7	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	37	9.3
21	Man In Tow	11	12	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	30	10.0
22	Hinckley Heat	8	7	0	9	-	-	-	-	-	-	24	6.0

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USPA introduced the Advanced Class as a separate category in 1998. However, the rules and the dive pool still changed once for the USPA Nationals 1999, when dive pool and sequences became identical with the Open Class.

The rules for the Intermediate Class of 1999 were still not the same as today. Dive pool and draw were identical with the Open/Advanced Class, while the Intermediate Class teams just had shorter sequences and performed only the first three or four points for each round. The change of the Intermediate Class draw to the currently used dive pool and rules of the AA Class came later.

Skydive City team Z-Spot still became USPA's first Advanced Class champion in 1998, even though dive pool and rules were closer to the current Intermediate Class. Z-Spot had to move up into the next category anyway, which would be the AAA/Advanced Class of 1999.

The first AAA/Advanced Class competition at the USPA Nationals 1999 produced different medal winners than the leaderboard is showing. Z-Spot actually followed up with bronze medals a year after their 1st place in the previous Advanced Class. Optic Nerve, with the two South Africans Gary Smith and Solly Williams, and Elsinore Alpha both were not eligible for USPA medals. Frost's 1999 lineup won, and Eu4ic placed 2nd in the official USPA rankings.

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USPA Nationals 2000		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Advanced	E,5,19	P,21,15	7,24,13	F,23,J,17	1,22,12	D,G,M,11	20,B,4	8,H,18	16,14,A	K,L,C,Q,O	Total	Avg
-	Barry Jive's Uptown 5	14	14	14	14	12	17	11	11	13	20	140	14.0
-	Optic Nerve	14	12	13	14	14	15	16	12	9	19	138	13.8
1	Teiwaz	12	13	13	15	12	15	14	11	11	16	132	13.2
2	Nemesis	12	12	11	15	11	14	11	10	11	14	121	12.1
3	DeLand PD Gold	10	12	11	9	10	14	12	11	11	18	118	11.8
4	Impulse Rhode Island	11	11	11	11	9	16	12	11	10	15	117	11.7
5	San Marcos Fast4ward	12	13	11	11	9	13	12	10	9	15	115	11.5
6	Sebastian Tonic	11	10	11	12	11	13	8	11	6	19	112	11.2
7	DeLand Chain Gang	10	10	11	12	8	14	11	8	6	17	107	10.7
7	Cave Girls	3	10	12	13	10	14	9	9	11	16	107	10.7
9	Arizona Inertia	10	12	10	12	10	13	11	5	10	13	106	10.6
10	RX Raeford Xpress	13	9	11	6	10	14	11	10	10	10	104	10.4
10	Ranch Equinox	9	11	8	13	10	12	9	9	8	15	104	10.4
10	Perris High Pressure	12	12	11	11	11	13	10	9	8	7	104	10.4
10	Mach 5	10	7	12	14	11	11	8	2	11	18	104	10.4
14	RPM	9	10	9	13	10	12	5	9	8	9	94	9.4
15	Ranch Team One	10	11	9	9	8	9	8	9	8	11	92	9.2
16	Z Girls	11	10	9	6	8	8	7	9	9	14	91	9.1
16	Fusion 4	10	6	9	10	9	8	11	9	6	13	91	9.1
16	Elsinore Stratos 4	9	10	9	9	7	9	10	7	9	12	91	9.1
19	Quantum Leap	7	9	7	11	9	10	11	7	8	11	90	9.0
20	Ekat	6	5	9	10	9	12	7	7	7	15	87	8.7
21	Mr. Pink	9	9	9	10	9	9	10	4	7	9	85	8.5
21	Jetstream	8	7	11	9	5	10	8	7	8	12	85	8.5
23	Maximum Yield	8	8	9	10	7	7	9	8	7	9	82	8.2
23	Funcused	7	10	9	7	6	11	7	6	8	11	82	8.2
25	Skydive Chicago STL-4	7	8	9	11	8	10	10	8	0	8	79	7.9
25	Elsinore 4-Cast	3	9	9	10	9	9	10	4	7	9	79	7.9
27	Perris Express	8	9	9	8	8	3	7	7	7	11	77	7.7
28	Team Willy	9	8	7	6	9	6	8	8	4	11	76	7.6
29	Environmental Impact	9	4	9	8	7	9	7	8	6	7	74	7.4
30	White Ravens	7	4	6	5	8	8	9	5	8	8	68	6.8
31	Lodi 499	8	7	7	5	8	6	6	4	5	6	62	6.2
32	Air Force Falcons	6	7	0	5	6	2	6	4	0	3	39	3.9

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The official Advanced Class winners of Frost (Sally Hathaway, Niklas Gummeson, Carlos Curti, Robert Healy, with Tony Hathaway on camera) would have to compete in the AAA/Open Class at the next national championship and skipped the USPA Nationals 2000. They did not come back in 2001, as well, and a new Frost lineup then competed for the first time in the AAA/Open Class of the USPA Nationals 2002

In the meantime, two new teams had won the AAA/Advanced Class competition at the USPA Nationals in 2000 and 2001.

The situation in 2000 was similar to the one in the Advanced Class a year earlier. Optic Nerve still had Gary Smith and Solly Williams in the lineup and could not win USPA medals. Their South African Equanimity team mate Robbie Spencer created the same situation for the team in 1st place on the Advanced Class leaderboard, Barry Jive's Uptown Five.

Florida Skydiving League team Teiwaz was the first eligible team in the rankings and won the USPA gold medals. Teiwaz were in the same situation as Frost in 1999 and did not come back for the AAA/Open Class competition a year later. The 2000 lineup did not continue, while other Teiwaz lineups joined the AAA/Open Class competition at USPA Nationals later on.