posted Jan 8th, 2023 - The last Shamrock Showdown at Skydive DeLand in 2018 before the corona crisis attracted three of the Top 4 teams at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2018 and the 4-way Women world champions of the same year to Florida in March. Several additional teams used the opportunity to meet the best teams in the world live at a competition.

Arizona Airspeed still competed with the previous lineup in DeLand (Thiago Gomes, Ari Perelman, David French on camera) who would end up two points behind NMP PCH HayaBusa in Australia 2018, little over half a year later. Only Damien Gouriou and videographer David Ricard of the French national 4-way Open Class were in the lineup of 2018 (Laurence Herve, Kevin Mansion, Charles Rommel), and they finished in 3rd place at the world championship. The Qatar Tigers placed 5th in DeLand and 4th in Australia, at both events with the same lineup as in Eloy 2022.

The Shamrock Showdown then took a 1-year break when the national teams of all countries were in the final preparations for the indoor world championships at Weembi Lille in April 2019.

The plans for resuming the traditional Shamrock Showdown event at Skydive City were totally changed in 2020. The new host of the USPA Nationals later the same year first canceled the national championships due to the implications of the corona virus and then the Shamrock Showdown, as well. FAI/ISC followed up with the cancellation and rescheduling of the outdoor world championships, as the NSL News reported on 24 April 2020.

Shamrock Showdown 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		B,J,17,20		M,10,O,3		Q,22,2		A,D,P,F,16		N,12,14		15,9,C		K,4,G,E		21,1,13		7,6,11		H,5,19		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	28	-1	26		24		34	-1	21		29	-2	31		20	-1	23		28		264	26.4
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	27		23		23		33	-1	18		27		29		20		23		25		248	24.8
3	Aerodyne Realfly	FR	27		24	-1	21	-1	28	-4	17		28		31	-1	19		23		27		245	24.5
4	Aerodyne Weembi Girls	FR	26	-1	23		21	-1	33	-1	15	-2	26		27		19		22		23	-1	235	23.5
5	Qatar Tigers	QA	25		23		22		29	-2	17		25		26	-2	18		21		23		229	22.9
6	FL Defiance	US	16		14	-1	8	-4	15	-3	12		16		16	-1	13		15	-1	15		140	14.0
7	SCZ ZEUS	US	12		12	-2	12		12	-1	9	-1	12		13		11		11		10	-1	114	11.4
8	Adventure Flyers	PY	11		11		9		14		9		11		10	-1	6	-1	9		10		100	10.0

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Arizona Airspeed - France - Qatar Tigers at the Shamrock Showdown 2018

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After two years without a Shamrock Showdown, Skydive City and National Skydiving League still decided to run the comeback event together in March 2021, even though there was no security for participation a year after the beginnings of the pandemic. However, FAI/ISC had also decided to follow through with the plans for the rescheduled FAI Tanay Mondial in August 2021.

Skydive City and National Skydiving League added online participation for the Shamrock Showdown Cloud 2021 due to the special circumstances, and the weather situation in Florida allowed only the completion of four rounds in 4-way and 8-way.

The pandemic situation had not changed much a year later, when Skydive City and National Skydiving League tried again to resume the traditional competition activities in March 2022. The Shamrock Showdown 2022 turned out to become a real showdown duel between Arizona Airspeed and NMP PCH HayaBusa, with one team from Florida observing the two best 4-way teams in the world conducting their competition routines.

The USPA Nationals 2022 were still suffering the lowest 4-way participation in history, while more teams seemed to be ready to travel again after most of the pandemic restrictions were lifted. Finally, the outdoor world championship in October confirmed signs of recovery with average participation compared to previous events.

Shamrock Showdown Cloud 2021			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		1,J,3		Q,K,D,H,L		F,B,C,22		18,E,21		M,5,10		4,G,2		15,8,11		16,19,O		7,P,14		9,12,20		Total	Avg
1	France	FR	30	-2	25		28		19		18		23		20		22		17	-2	18	-1	220	22.0
2	Qatar Falcons	QA	23	-3	19	-2	21	-1	15		17		18	-1	15	-3	19		17		17		181	18.1
3	Tanay 8	RU	29	-2	26		25		16	-2	-		-		-		-		-		-		96	24.0
4	Airspeed XP8	US	28	-2	23	-3	24	-1	19		-		-		-		-		-		-		94	23.5
5	Rhythm 8	US	14	-1	13	-1	14	-1	9		-		-		-		-		-		-		50	12.5
6	Sandbaggers	US	8		5		7		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		20	6.7
Rank	4-way AAA		1,J,3		Q,K,D,H,L		F,B,C,22		18,E,21		M,5,10		4,G,2		15,8,11		16,19,O		7,P,14		9,12,20		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	24		53		32	-1	24		-		-		-		-		-		-		133	33.3
2	Skydive Midwest NEXT	US	16		25	-3	22		16		-		-		-		-		-		-		79	19.8
3	XPG4	US	16		25	-1	20		16		-		-		-		-		-		-		77	19.3
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	20	-1	0		24	-3	21		-		-		-		-		-		-		65	16.3
5	CPI Legacy	US	13	-1	19	-1	14	-2	12		-		-		-		-		-		-		58	14.5
6	Quiet Riot	US	12		19		14	-1	12		-		-		-		-		-		-		57	14.3
Rank	4-way AA		1,J,L		Q,K,D,H		F,B,C,22		18,E,21		M,11,6		4,G,2		15,8		19,O,13		7,P,14		9,20		Total	Avg
1	Qatar Cheetahs	QA	17		23		16	-1	13	-1	-		-		-		-		-		-		69	17.3
2	Just 4 Fun	US	7	-2	11		11		9		-		-		-		-		-		-		38	9.5

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Arizona Airspeed - Qatar Tigers at the Shamrock Showdown 2021

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The desire for outdoor and indoor competition both after the pandemic has been confirmed at the indoor events in the past months, and there has also been a strong request for outdoor competition opportunities. The most traditional events have been successfully completed (ISR Grand Prix), and the coming ones are scheduled for January (Czech Open, New Hampshire Tunnel Fest), February (Paraclete XP Indoor Championship.

The Shamrock Showdown 2023 will resume at Skydive DeLand, and the preview leaderboard of the committed teams is featuring an extremely promising AAA Class field. In fact, the four currently confirmed top teams are an exact copy of the Top 4 in Eloy last year. The same four teams will be competing in DeLand with the same lineups who finished in the Top 4 at the world championships. Most likely, they will again be the contenders for the three sets of the same FAI medals in Israel 2024.

France ended up without a 4-way Open Class medal in Eloy, while the young and very promising lineup will challenge the medalists of 2022. The Qatar Tigers won the second set of 4-way medals for their country and will try to finish even higher with new coach Andy Grauwels. All four teams want to become 4-way world champions, and one of them will not even get to a medal position. The events in the coming two years will show the progression, which will begin at the Shamrock Showdown 2023.

The Shamrock Showdown is traditionally open for any and all other teams in all NSL categories, and it's a priceless opportunity to share a weekend with the best 4-way teams in the world.

FAI Outdoor World Meet 2022			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		20,16,B		P,D,21,13		17,K,11		E,A,19,22		2,9,M		C,14,F,12		3,6,18		4,10,1		8,Q,O,H		5,7,J		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	21	-1	28		27		27		31		23		21		20		32		31		261	26.1
2	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	20	-1	25	-2	21		23		28		20	-2	19		17		29		26		228	22.8
3	Qatar Tigers	QA	19	-2	23	-1	22	-1	21	-1	26		18		17	-1	17		28		28		219	21.9
4	France 4-way Open	FR	19		23	-1	22		23		27		20	-1	18		15	-1	20	-5	27	-1	214	21.4
Shamrock Showdown 2023			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		TBD		TBD		TBD		TBD		TBD		TBD		TBD		TBD		TBD		TBD		Total	Avg
-	Arizona Airspeed	US	-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-	-
-	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-	-
-	Qatar Tigers	QA	-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-	-
-	France 4-way Open	FR	-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		-	-

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Arizona Airspeed - NMP PCH HayaBusa - Qatar Tigers - France at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2022 - Video Footage Courtesy of FAI/InTime/Omniskore

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