posted Apr 27th, 2022 - The Czech Republic was the most successful nation at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2022, after the medal count in the three horizontal Formation Skydiving events (4-way Open - 4-way Women - 4-way Junior), as the NSL News pointed out on April 20th.

France collected three sets of silver medals at the indoor world cup events, and the 4-way Open Class team won additional gold for the 1st place on the European leaderboard. However, the Czech and French medal collections were heavily based on the success in the two newest FAI/ISC events, 4-way Women and 4-way Junior.

The 4-way Open Class competition has always been the best attended and most competitive event at any FAI/ISC and other international and national events, and it was not any different at Airspace Charleroi. There are only three sets of medals for the highest number of participating teams, 29 this time in Belgium, and Arizona Airspeed won the most relevant gold medals.

It was not only Arizona Airspeed in the top spot who made it a very successful event for the U.S. delegation in this category. The whole U.S. delegation of three teams (Arizona Airspeed - Skydive Midwest NEXT - SDC Rhythm XP) was also the strongest one in 4-way Open.

---

FAI Indoor World Cup 2022			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open Top 10		O,18,14		L,C,F,9		1,J,H,19		3,E,P,Q		20,7,16		2,13,8		17,D,6		N,22,A,G		12,5,11		M,21,4		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	29		54	-3	35		41		29		25		39		37		27		30		346	34.6
2	Aerokart Monaco Akdemie	FR	25	-1	58		28	-3	39	-2	25		25		33		32		24		28	-2	317	31.7
3	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	23	-1	54	-1	30	-1	38	-2	26		23		32		31	-1	24		28	-1	309	30.9
4	ISR FireFlash	BE	22	-1	41	-4	27	-2	36		22	-1	21		31		28		21	-1	27		276	27.6
5	Skydive Midwest NEXT	US	22		44		28		30	-2	20	-1	22		26	-1	27		20	-1	24		263	26.3
6	HF Flying Circus	CZ	21	-1	39	-3	27	-2	33	-1	20	-2	21		28	-1	27	-1	21		23	-2	260	26.0
7	Meraki	UK	19	-1	43		25	-1	30	-1	23		20		26		27		20		24		257	25.7
8	Papea Masculino	ES	20	-1	41	-1	26	-2	31		21	-1	17	-2	25	-1	27	-1	21		24		253	25.3
9	SDC Rhythm XP	US	20		39	-2	25		31		17	-2	20		25	-1	22		18	-2	24		241	24.1
10	Out of the Blue	NL	20		39	-2	25		30		17	-2	19		27		23		18	-1	22		240	24.0
10	Echochamber Oceanside	SE	19	-1	43		24	-1	31		18	-2	17	-1	26		23		17	-2	22		240	24.0

---

Arizona Airspeed - Skydive Midwest NEXT - SDC Rhythm XP at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2022 - Footage Courtesy of FAI/ISC/Airspace Charleroi

---

The U.S. delegation finished with a total of 15 ranking points for the three teams. Belgium (26) and France (27) battled for the 2nd place with the best three of their four attending teams. Only the three best Russian 4-way Open Class teams may have been able to challenge the U.S. delegation for the top spot in the nations ranking, as the results of the Russian Indoor Cup recently indicated.

All three U.S. teams placed in Top 10 spots, after SDC Rhythm XP passed Out Of The Blue and Echochamber Oceanside in the very last round of the competition and finished in 9th place.

Skydive Midwest NEXT defended the 5th place successfully against HF Flying Circus and Meraki and posted a significantly increased team record average on the way. The 24.1 average at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2022 was already the highest one in the NEXT history, and the current lineup in their second year lifted it to 26.3 in Charleroi.

Megan George, Lauren Byrd and Greg Oldendick had posted a 22.4 with Chris Haslam in the tail slot at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2020. They copied it (22.0) a year later at the same event, then with new member Gorka Amian, and came back with the 24.1 in February 2022.

---

Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2022		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	F,9,4	G,8,A,C	22,10,J	11,D,6	N,3,M,H	20,P,Q,L	12,17,B	18,2,13	E,7,14	5,19,K	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	39	37	26	29	40	37	31	25	33	33	330	33.0
2	XPG4	30	25	16	24	32	28	20	20	26	25	246	24.6
3	Skydive Midwest NEXT	27	27	18	24	32	29	18	20	24	22	241	24.1
4	Bobba Fat XP	28	24	19	23	31	24	21	19	25	23	237	23.7
5	SDC Rhythm XP	27	27	19	21	28	28	20	19	27	20	236	23.6
6	Golden Knights	33	27	16	21	26	29	22	18	21	19	232	23.2
7	Lucky Chris Take 2	24	22	15	18	22	21	14	15	19	18	188	18.8
8	Sloppy Seconds	23	17	10	16	18	15	14	12	18	15	158	15.8
9	Three Men and a Katie	19	18	13	14	17	16	14	12	18	15	156	15.6
10	Platinum XP	14	15	11	14	15	13	12	10	14	12	130	13.0

---

Arizona Airspeed - Skydive Midwest NEXT - SDC Rhythm XP at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2022

---

All three U.S. teams scored higher than in February at Paraclete XP, while Skydive Midwest NEXT turned out as the most improved U.S. team by the numbers. It is even more difficult to improve the performance and increase the scoring numbers on the highest level, where Arizona Airspeed also lifted their meet average from 33.0 to 34.6 within the short time time period between the Paraclete XP event and the indoor world cup.

Skydive Midwest NEXT founder Megan George has already won USPA outdoor medals with her earlier lineups, Intermediate Class gold in 2015, Advanced Class gold a year later. Now it seems as if she has set her eyes on Open Class medals with her new lineup.

NEXT won their first U.S. Open Class medals at Paraclete XP in February, and they will switch to outdoor training and competition in preparation for the USPA Nationals 2022. The next national outdoor championships will be close to their home at Skydive Midwest, as Skydive Chicago will be the host this year.

The same lineup finished in 5th place on the 4-way Open Class leaderboard at the end of their first year, and the next USPA medals will surely be in reach this September. The 26.3 indoor average in Charleroi indicates an outdoor average well above the 20-point benchmark...

---

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

---