posted Aug 19th, 2021 - Eight more teams from Germany finally completed the July outdoor leaderboard. Skydive Paranodon in Illertissen hosted their second 4-way competition this year. The Paranodon Cup 2021 was the comeback event in Germany after the pandemic break, and the seven participating teams had posted their scores on the June leaderboard.

The Paranodon Challenge in July was only scheduled as a 3-round competition, and the July rankings had to be adjusted slightly after comparing all scores directly with the total number of points after Round 3. Chimera had the top spot after three rounds, and the British national team in 4-way Open maintained it throughout Round 6, as well.

The situation on the AAA Class leaderboard was most interesting after Round 2 when all four teams on the top were tied with a total of 30 points. The sequence of Round 4 (N,G,4,22) then broke the tie heavily and created a 6-point difference between the 1st and the 4th place.

Aviatrixx, still with Katrina Autry Shows in the lineup at the July competition, and SDC RhEvolution XP continued with their tight battle throughout the eight rounds that both teams completed. They were still tied after Round 8, and only the Midwest Skydiving League team completed all ten rounds. Aviatrixx then traveled to Russia for the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020, as the NSL News reported on August 17th.

---

NSL Network July 2021			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		Q,L,16,13		M,B,2,12		N,G,4,22		11,E,10		P,O,17,C		19,K,8		7,D,15		H,9,1		6,18,A		14,F,20		Total	Avg
1	Chimera	UK	13		17		17		14		25		14		-		-		-		-		(47)	16.7
2	Aviatrixx	US	14	-1	16		14		13	-1	20	-1	14		13	-1	18	-1	-		-		(44)	15.3
2	SDC RhEvolution XP	US	15		15		14		12		22		13		14		17		14		14		(44)	15.0
4	Bardarbunga 3.0	DE	14		16		11		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		(41)	13.7
5	HF Flying Circus	CZ	12		12		13		11		21		14		14		17		13		11		(37)	13.8
6	Paranodon Classic Mix	DE	10		11		11		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		(32)	10.7
7	SDC Rheology	US	8	-1	11		9		9		8	-2	8		11		11		8	-1	-		(28)	9.2
8	Dream Team	CZ	10		10		7		8	-1	0		9		9	-1	14		10		10		(27)	8.7
9	Vantage	UK	8		10		8		8		13		9		-		-		-		-		(26)	9.3
10	Drachenfeuer	DE	8		7		7		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		(22)	7.3
11	M Team	CZ	4		5		6		1		8		4	-1	6		8		6		5	-1	(15)	5.3

---

One of the eight German teams was in the group of the four teams who were tied in 1st place after Round 2. Bardarbunga are the second half of the German national 8-way team, Airbus, who did not compete at the world meet.

The Paranodon Challenge was the third time that Bardarbunga competed together. The Airbus 8-way team was in training at Skydive Paranodon the same week of the 4-way competition, and Bardarbunga decided to add the three 4-way rounds to the team account at the end of the 8-way training camp.

Olaf Biedermann, Steffen Schiedek, Uli Sehrbrock and Thomas Spielvogel, with Wolfgang Hagedorn on camera, had been in 3rd place at the German Nationals 2018 when they forfeited a score for the last round and ended up in 4th place. However, Dark Energy, with Marco Arrigo in the lineup, were not eligible for German medals, and Bardarbunga still won the bronze medals.

Steffen Schiedek, Uli Sehrbrock and Thomas Spielvogel were back a year later with the same 4-way and 8-way double-duties, and with a slightly different lineup. Their other 8-way team mate Carl Enders replaced Olaf Biedermann, and Frank Schumacher was filming the 4-way competition. Result was the same 4th place behind Dark Energy, this time without missing a round, and Marco Arrigo was not a guest competitor any longer.

---

NSL Network July 2021			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class		Q,L,13		M,B,2		N,G,4		11,E,22		P,O,C,A		19,K,8		7,D,15		H,9,1		6,18		14,F,20		Total	Avg
1	SDC Rhebellion XP	US	12	-1	15		11		10		17	-2	10		9		13		-		-		(38)	12.1
2	Fr4ggles	DE	10		12		9		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		(31)	10.3
3	Toxic Thunder	US	9	-1	12		9	-1	6	-2	14	-1	7		8	-1	7	-2	-		-		(30)	9.0
4	Volt4ge	UK	9		14		4		7		15		7		-		-		-		-		(27)	9.3
4	Paranodon Futura 2 Mix	DE	8		11		8		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		(27)	9.0
6	Toxic Lead	US	7	-1	9		7		6		10		5	-1	8		4	-3	-		-		(23)	7.0
7	SDC Funnel Vision	US	6		9		6		3	-1	10		5		5		7		5		5		(21)	6.1
8	TSC4Way	US	2		7		6		3		7		6		-		-		-		-		(15)	5.2
8	Step-Mom X Treshaun	US	3	-2	6	-2	6		2	-2	6	-3	5		2	-2	5	-2	-		-		(15)	4.4

---

There were no national championships in 2020, and Bardarbunga was back last month with a new combination of 8-way team mates. Olaf Biedermann, Carl Enders, Uli Sehrbrock and Thomas Spielvogel had Jurgen Klaus on camera at the Paranodon Challenge. The same lineup plan to compete at the German Nationals next month, as well.

Most likely, they will once again run into their annual opponents of Dark Energy, even though Petra Bärenfänger, Uwe Soppa and Henning Stumpp have not registered a lineup yet. They competed with Luc Verstrepen in 2017, then with Marco Arrigo in 2018 and 2019, and they are the defending bronze medalists.

Bardarbunga and Dark Energy both will most likely be much closer to the top of the leaderboard this year. The NSL News reported earlier that the reigning 4-way champions, Oceanside AtomiX, had to rebuild their lineup completely this year, which put the team into a very similar situation as the Airbus 4-way team with their own new lineup.

A very exciting competition for this year's German 4-way title and the qualification for the next world meet in 2022 can most likely be expected next month. Bardarbunga and Dark Energy could even be closer than ever to the top spot with their experience level. Four teams could be in the race, not only for any medals...

---

NSL Network July 2021			1		2		3		4		5		6		Total	Avg
Rank	A Class		Q,L,J		M,B,2		N,G,4		E,21		P,O,C		19,K		Total	Avg
1	Paranodon Futura 3	DE	13		11		17		-		-		-		(41)	13.7
2	Unstable	DE	7		11		14		-		-		-		(32)	10.7
3	Dallas Distraction	US	6		8	-1	5		7		6		5		(19)	6.2
4	CSC Constellation	US	5	-2	8		5	-1	7		9		6		(18)	6.7
5	Sons of Zeus	UK	6		4		6		3		8		3		(16)	5.0
6	Alias	US	8	-1	0		5		3		0		5		(13)	3.5
7	Non Toxic	US	2		7		1		1		1	-1	1	-1	(10)	2.2
8	G-Force	DE	1		4		1		-		-		-		(6)	2.0
9	Geek4aLaugh	UK	3		1		0		3		5		1		(4)	2.2

---