posted Feb 22nd, 2023 - The Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2023 included once again the qualification of the U.S. teams for the Formation Skydiving delegation to the next FAI/ISC event in 2024, which will be a world cup. The indoor world championship is coming up this April in Slovakia. Arizona Airspeed and XPG4 qualified for this event at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2022.

The FAI/ISC indoor events do not include 8-way competition at this point in time, even though the sanctioning organization of Formation Skydiving competition has been working on dive pools and rules for 8-way teams, as the NSL News reported on January 17th. The U.S. delegation has not yet fielded a national team in 4-way Junior.

Senior U.S. 4-way teams have to compete in 4-way Open if they plan to qualify for FAI events. The rules for FAI/ISC world cups allow up to four teams per nation to compete at indoor and outdoor world cups. Arizona Airspeed, Golden Knights, SDC Rhythm XP and XP4 are now eligible for the 4-way Open Class competition at the indoor world cup in 2024, and three teams (XPG4, Greenlight, SNE Fly Girls) could join the U.S. delegation in 4-way Women.

There has not been much competition for the U.S. top spot in 4-way Women in the past, and XPG4 did not not have any opponents at last year's qualification for the indoor world championship. It was different last weekend.

Paraclete XP Indoor 2023			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA/4-way Open/Women		15,14,5	19,9,1	10,J,17	M,B,G,E,F	3,18,4	Q,6,C,D	11,7,8	16,H,2	K,N,L,13	A,20,P,O	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	26	28	31	60	25	42	25	29	37	37	340	34.0
2	Golden Knights	US	20	27	30	58	20	34	23	26	30	28	296	29.6
G	Qatar Tigers	QA	21	26	26	58	22	34	21	24	29	31	292	29.2
3	SDC Rhythm XP	US	20	23	25	52	19	32	23	25	30	27	276	27.6
4	Paraclete XP4	US	21	25	24	43	21	30	21	24	28	26	263	26.3
5	XPG4	US	18	23	24	48	18	29	20	23	25	26	254	25.4
6	Skydive Midwest NEXT	US	19	20	19	45	18	32	19	18	26	24	240	24.0
6	Lightspeed XP	US	19	23	23	38	17	31	19	20	23	27	240	24.0
8	Greenlight	US	18	19	20	45	19	25	18	18	27	26	235	23.5
G	Qatar White	QA	16	23	19	39	17	27	20	20	28	25	234	23.4
G	Qatar Maroon	QA	15	20	21	37	18	23	20	20	23	20	217	21.7
9	Figjam	US	12	14	15	37	11	23	15	17	20	19	183	18.3
10	SNE Fly Girls	US	10	15	16	36	12	17	15	14	20	14	169	16.9

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XPG4 - Greenlight - SNE Fly Girls at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2023 - Video footage courtesy of Paraclete XP

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The NSL News had reported on February 7th, after a visit at Paraclete XP, that 8-way world champion Jeana Billings will only continue with XPGK8. Michelle Karamon, Brenn Richards and Anna Brunner recruited Shannon Catalano for the open slot and were in training when the NSL News visited.

Two former XPG4 members, Jeana Billings and Morgan Womble, then formed Greenlight for the national indoor championships, with Christine Bruchac and Jill Stephenson completing the strong lineup. It turned out that there was a competition in 4-way Women for the first time.

Both teams did not have much time to get ready for the event. XPG4 have been in the middle of the preparations for the indoor world championship in April and had to adjust their training plan after the personnel change. However, the XPG4 3-way was well trained in the second year together, and Shannon Catalano had already been on the list of candidates when Morgan Womble stepped back. The new XPG4 lineup handled the strong Greenlight pressure very well and finished with the team's highest indoor average since the FAI Indoor World Championship 2019.

World Tunnel League February 2023		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	11,C,M,6	14,J,3	B,16,D,19	1,P,H,13	O,22,G,17	7,4,15	2,5,9	Q,E,L,21	20,10,A	F,12,8	Total	Avg
1	HF Cubs	26	22	25	29	25	24	22	29	21	22	245	24.5
2	HF Flying Circus	25	22	27	25	23	22	23	30	21	22	240	24.0
3	HF Flying Rebels	24	19	26	25	21	21	20	26	16	22	220	22.0
4	HF Chameleons	19	18	23	23	20	18	20	24	16	18	199	19.9
5	M Team	17	13	17	16	13	13	12	17	11	10	139	13.9
6	Accord	14	11	14	14	11	11	11	15	8	12	121	12.1
Rank	Rookie	C,M,K	J,Q,A	D,E,F	P,H,N	O,G,B	L,C,J	M,D,P	Q,E,L	A,K,H	F,N,O	Total	Avg
1	Smart Fish	15	19	22	17	17	18	20	16	18	16	178	17.8
2	Helicopters	22	14	21	15	18	13	20	12	18	16	169	16.9
3	Dycky Most	16	14	17	15	11	10	14	15	6	13	131	13.1
4	Unicorns	12	9	5	8	8	5	10	6	5	9	77	7.7

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HF Cubs at the February meet of the Czech Tunnel League - Video footage courtesy of Jan Klapka/Hurricane Factory Prague

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The challenging competition with Greenlight at the national indoor championships was probably serving an additional purpose productively. XPG4 have to expect a very strong field and a tight battle for medals at the upcoming indoor world championship, even without the outdoor world champions of 2021, Bubbles from Russia.

France (Nephtys), Great Britain (NFTO), Germany (Piteraq) and Czech Republic (HF Cubs) have very competitive teams. Nephtys and NFTO won gold and silver in 4-way Women at Weembi Lille 2019, where XPG4 placed 3rd with Jeana Billings and Morgan Womble in the lineup.

The 25.4 average of the new XPG4 lineup last weekend seems to be enough to challenge one of the current medal contender in 4-way Women, HF Cubs from the Czech Republic, 4-way Junior world champions of 2019 and world cup winners in 4-way Women at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2022, even though the Super Sequence in Round 4 boosted the averages of the U.S. teams.

The Czech 4-way Women team mastered a very slow competition draw this month with a 24.5 average, after 27.0 at the January meet of the Czech Tunnel League. They had won the indoor world cup last year with a 28.5 team record average. XPG4 and HF Cubs both seem to perform well under competition pressure, which promises exciting ten rounds in Slovakia.