posted Aug 14th, 2021 - The award ceremony in Tanay was barely completed when three members of the British national team (Anna Hicks, Sian Stokes, Julia Swallow) were ready to discuss the 4-way Women competition at the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020 with new NSL Live Talk. The time at the competition site is seven hours ahead of the clock in the United Kingdom, and the U.S. audience is additional four hours behind.

The NSL News has covered the situation of the British national teams and the withdrawal from the event comprehensively, and yesterday's update from the United Kingdom from the Chimera perspective also included NFTO.

Following the 4-way Women competition in Tanay was a painful experience for the British team. There was no doubt that the silver medalists of Australia 2018 would compete for the top spot this time. The French national team was expected to be vulnerable with their double-duties in 4-way Women and 8-way Open, while NFTO were determined to win the 4-way Women gold medals, originally in August last year, then a year later after the cancellation and rescheduling of the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020.

It turned out that the French delegation was indeed vulnerable enough, as the final results of the shortened event are showing. There is no set of gold medals for France in Formation Skydiving competition.

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FAI Tanay Mondial 2020			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		O,19,Q,5		17,B,E,P		H,15,12		M,N,7,F		K,L,C,4		J,18,16		1,9,A		8,6,2		21,10,14		22,G,D,13		20,3,11		Total	Avg
1	Bubbles	RU	21	-1	33	-3	18	-1	33	-3	27		18	-2	-		-		-		-		-		150	25.0
2	Aerodyne Maubeuge	FR	24		27	-4	18		34		24	-2	21		-		-		-		-		-		148	24.7
3	No Mercy	PL	15		20	-1	11	-1	20	-2	16		11		-		-		-		-		-		93	15.5
4	Aviatrixx	US	15		25		13		14		0		12	-1	-		-		-		-		-		79	13.2

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Russia and France in 4-way Women at the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020

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The French 8-way and 4-way Women teams both were in serious contention for the gold medals and lost by one (8-way) and two points (4-way Women).

NFTO could see the evidence for their own aspiration and the realistic chances to win, as the Russian Bubbles gave the previous 4-way Women world champions a very hard time from the beginning to the end.

NFTO were facing the Russian 4-way Women team with exactly the same lineup at the FAI European Indoor Championship 2018 and won after an extra round. The previous NFTO lineup then left Bubbles behind again at the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019, this time by 16 points.

The Russian team brought the 2018 lineup back together this year and completed 160 training jumps. They impressed with the 28.2 average at the Russian Indoor Cup in April and followed up with the even more impressive and probably unexpected outdoor performance this week.

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NSL Live Talk with NFTO on 14 August 2021

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The Russian 4-way Women team had a significant advantage on their side, not only the number of training jumps compared to the French 4-way Women lineup. Bubbles knew the jump plane for the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020 much better than any other team in their event.

Julia Swallow, most experienced competitor in the NFTO lineup, explained during the NSL Live Talk how different the exits from the L-410 Turbolet are. Bubbles could take full advantage of the higher exit speed and the better slipstream, while the French team started each competition round from an exit Meeker (E).

Bubbles were able to win a point out the door almost in each round, which was more than they needed to keep up with the French team and eventually win by two points. The familiarity with the specifics of the jump plane played a significant role in the 4-way events, and Bubbles won the first FAI 4-way gold medals for Russia.

NFTO will go back to exits from their Dornier jump planes at Skydive Hilbaldstow, where the national championships will be held again at the end of the month. After that, they may begin to discuss the next world meet in Eloy 2022...

Exits by Bubbles and France in Round 2

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