posted Mar 7th, 2023 - The best 4-way teams in the world usually travel to the location of their next competition early enough to accommodate themselves in a new environment and warm up with some training jumps before Round 1. The Shamrock Showdown begins this Friday morning at Skydive DeLand, and the four currently best 4-way teams in the world have their own and different ways how to get well prepared for the event.

The Qatar Tigers have been training with coach Andy Grauwels at Jump Florida in Lake Wales, as the NSL News reported on February 26th. NMP PCH HayaBusa have arrived at Skydive City for their final preparations before driving the two hours to DeLand later this week. Arizona Airspeed have Wednesday scheduled as their travel day and make a few jumps on Thursday.

The French national team in 4-way Open completed their fourth day of outdoor training today with perfect weather conditions in DeLand. National coach Mathieu Bernier said that his team was unlucky at their first outdoor training camp earlier this year, after the outdoor world meet in Eloy. The weather in Pamiers did not cooperate, and the training jumps in DeLand are much needed.

It was the Shamrock Showdown 2018 when the French national teams trained and competed last time in DeLand. Current member Damien Gouriou and team videographer David Ricard were in the lineup that competed in 2018, together with Arizona Airspeed, SDC Rhythm XP, Qatar Tigers and the French national team in 4-way Women.

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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NSL-TV Unfiltered: French national 4-way Open Class team in training at Skydive DeLand

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French national coach Mathieu Bernier came to DeLand with his two 4-way teams in 2018. There he met his former team mate Jeremie Rollett at the Shamrock Showdown, who was coaching the Qatar Tigers by then. They would be opponents later on in Australia 2018, where they would place 3rd (France) and 4th (Qatar).

Mathieu Bernier and Jeremie Rollett had both competed at the Shamrock Showdown as team mates before, including the 10-round competition in 2010. They won the Shamrock Showdown and then the world championship in Menzelinsk 2010, where Mathieu Bernier became the one and only 4-way and 8-way competitor in history who won gold medals in both categories at the same event.

He is now trying to guide a very new and young French 4-way Open Class lineup to the same top spot in the world that he knows well. He knows that there is a major obstacle from Arizona in the way, however, nothing is impossible for French national teams, including double-gold as in Menzelinsk 2010.

The French national team in 4-way Open includes a different and incredible feature this time. Team member Tom Mattoni is 18 years of age, younger than any other medal contender in the history of Formation Skydiving competition. He will turn 19 a few days after Round 10 of the Shamrock Showdown, a senior outdoor competition.

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

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France 4-way Open at the FAI World Meet 2022 - Video Footage Courtesy of FAI/ISC and OmniSkore!HD

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Mathieu Bernier selected Tom Mattoni for the French national 4-way outdoor team shortly after the French 4-way Junior team won silver medals behind the HF Cubs at the FAI Indoor World Championship 2019.

First, he trained and competed with the French national indoor team, together with his current team mate Mathieu Quizy, 24 years of age at the moment. They had two more 4-way juniors of 2019 in their lineup when they won the silver medals in 4-way Open at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2022, Cameron Malie and Oscar Massier.

The three former 4-way juniors and Mathieu Quizy placed 2nd in Charleroi with a 31.7 average. Even more impressively, they won the fastest sequence of the indoor competition by four points over Arizona Airspeed and tied the highscore in another round. Round 2 of the event last year (L,C,F,9) was the last time that Arizona Airspeed lost a round, as the NSL News reported on March 3rd.

Young Tom Mattoni and Mathieu Quizy obviously know from their own experience that Arizona Airspeed can be outscored, even though they ended up 47 points behind (261 - 214) at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2022. Alban Rumolo, 22 years of age and 8-way silver medalist at the FAI Tanay Mondial, and senior member Damien Gouriou will do their best to match the speed and energy of their outdoor and indoor team mates and move closer to Airspeed than they were in Eloy.

FAI Indoor World Cup 2022			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		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

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France 4-way Open at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2022 - Footage Courtesy of FAI/ISC/Airspace Charleroi

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