posted Nov 6th, 2021 - The NSL News explained on November 1st how the successful AZXP FS Sweep at the USPA Nationals 2021 could cause a challenging world meet situation. There is no 10-way or 16-way competition at FAI World Championships of Formation Skydiving, and the topic was related only to potential double-duties in 4-way and 8-way.

Arizona Airspeed members Niklas Hemlin, Mikhail Markine and Chris Kuhlmann won all four FS events in Eloy, including 4-way Open and 8-way Open, and they are qualified to compete for the U.S. delegation in both events at the next world meet in Eloy 2022.

This was not the case at the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020, where the same AZXP8 lineup won the FAI gold medals. SDC Rhythm XP competed in 4-way Open, and nobody in the U.S. delegation had to compete in a second event.

Not only Niklas Hemlin, Mikhail Markine and Chris Kuhlmann are now in the situation where they would have to defend the 8-way world championship title and try to defeat NMP PCH HayaBusa in 4-way Open at the same time. Their 8-way team mates Jeana Billings and Michelle Karamon are actually in exactly the same situation.

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USPA Nationals 2021		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	13,5,D		Q,9,4		F,14,C,10		H,L,20,N		18,22,19		11,J,E,8		6,7,K		G,15,12		M,2,21		16,A,P,O		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	22	-2	28	-1	24		30		18	-1	25		26		20		24		35		252	25.2
2	SDC Rhythm XP	26		24	-4	21	-2	27	-1	19		23		26		21		24	-1	29		240	24.0
3	Golden Knights Gold	21		26		20		25	-1	16		23		21		17		16	-1	25	-1	210	21.0
4	The Jets	16	-1	20	-1	18		22		14		17		21		16		19		24		187	18.7
5	Skydive Midwest NEXT	18		21		18		20		14	-1	18		20		14		18		21	-1	182	18.2
6	XPG4	16		19		15	-2	22		13		19		18		14		18		21		175	17.5
7	Elsinore Bullet	16		18	-1	17		20	-1	12	-1	18		18		14		18		22		173	17.3
8	Aviatrixx	13		16		14		12	-3	10	-1	13		13		10	-1	14		16	-1	131	13.1
9	Golden Knights Black	12	-1	12	-3	14		13	-1	11		13		12		10		13	-2	16	-1	126	12.6

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XPG4 - Aviatrixx at the USPA Nationals 2021 - Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/OmniSkore!HD

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Jeana Billings and Michelle Karamon accomplished their own AZXP FS Sweep just in a different way with their 4-way team XPG4. There is no separate 4-way Women leaderboard at USPA Nationals, and the qualification as the national team in 4-way Women is a part of the 4-way Open Class competition.

XPG4, with Morgan Womble, Brenn Richards and Andres Mesa on camera completing the lineup, received their own set of USPA gold medals after winning the 4-way Women duel over Aviatrixx, the previous USPA champions and national team in this category.

The situation for XPG4 in 4-way Women is not much easier compared to Arizona Airspeed, who have to dethrone the Belgian 4-way world champions of 2014, 2016, 2018 and 2020/2021. Russia and France will probably come back for the next world meet in Eloy next year with similarly strong teams to compete again for the next FAI gold medals in 4-way Women.

The British national 4-way champions of NFTO, who have also been the national team in 4-way Women, missed the meet in Tanay after the withdrawal of the whole delegation by British Skydiving. The British 4-way Women teams have been a powerhouse in this event since it was added to world meets in 2001.

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FAI Tanay Mondial 2020			1		2		3		4		5		6		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		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 - France at the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020

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XPG4 will have to train at least as much as their potential opponents in Eloy 2022. Due to the main focus on 8-way training this year, the new U.S. national team in 4-way Women is far behind the scoring level of Russia, France, and NFTO also posted a 19+ average at their national championships this year.

In fact, with XPG4 and NFTO both entering the 4-way Women competition at the next world meet, the event could possibly become at least as competitive as the 8-way battle in Tanay. However, the chances for the U.S. team to win FAI medals depend on the training efforts, which were on the lower side this year.

Similar to the French 4-way Women team in Tanay, XPG4 used mainly standard exits to build the first formation of each sequence, due to the lack of enough 4-way training. It was a costly strategy for the French team, who were basically a point behind the Russian Bubbles in each round after the exit. XPG4 had no challenging 4-way Women opponent with only Aviatrixx on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard. This will be very different next year in Eloy.

However, Jeana Billings and Michelle Karamon can enjoy their own AZXP FS Sweep at the USPA Nationals for a little while, before they have to decide how to balance 4-way and 8-way training next year...

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USPA Nationals 2021			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		2,10,K		M,8,21		5,17,9		N,O,1,F		E,C,B,11		O,12,G,6		7,A,4		3,15,H		22,18,13		14,L,16		Total	Avg
1	Airspeed XP8	US	13	-1	17		17		25		21		18		22		27		18		22		200	20.0
2	Golden Knights	US	13	-1	17		15		24		19		17	-1	16	-2	23	-1	19		19		182	18.2
G	Qatar Falcons	QA	16		16		15		21	-2	14	-4	16	-1	19		20	-2	16		20		173	17.3
3	The Expendables	US	15		13	-1	13	-1	19		17		15	-1	19		20	-2	17		17		165	16.5
4	Prison 9	US	12		11		11		15	-1	13		11	-1	14		16	-1	11		13		127	12.7
5	Le Jacques Huit	US	6		9		9		12		9		9		9		10		6		9		88	8.8
6	Forced Open	US	7		9		7		11		9		9		9		8	-3	10		8		87	8.7

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Airspeed XP8 at the USPA Nationals 2021 - Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/OmniSkore!HD

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