posted Jun 28th, 2023 - Two of the strongest U.S. teams are located in the country's Midwest region, and they represent two different skydiving centers, Skydive Chicago (SDC Rhythm XP) and Skydive Midwest (SDMW NEXT). The teams are athletically opponents, while they work together in many ways.

Even the team's hosts, Skydive Chicago and Skydive Midwest, have recently worked together quite closely. They teamed up to run USPA's national skydiving championships together. Both locations hosted different disciplines, and the two Midwest teams, along with all other teams in the Formation Skydiving events, completed their competition rounds at Skydive Chicago.

SDC Rhythm XP and SDMW NEXT share a successful progression from the 4-way beginnings to their current positions in the United States, including USPA gold medals in lower categories, and they also have very similar goals. One of them is to catch up with Arizona Airspeed. SDC Rhythm XP's 2019 lineup managed to accomplish exactly that and won the USPA championship title in 4-way Open once at Paraclete XP in 2019, after a dramatic jump-off finish.

Both teams have also worked together with the National Skydiving League. They share the event management of the Midwest Skydiving League events at their home DZs, and SDMW NEXT are also engaged with the Indoor Cloud League. They were back with new scores and videos for the month of June.

Midwest Skydiving League June 2023		1		2		3		4		5		6		Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class	K,15,1		P,A,2		L,4,B		21,H,Q		G,11,9		D,E,13		Total	Avg
1	SDMW Gorka's Voluntolds	6	-1	10		9		11	-1	7		11		54	9.0
2	SDMW Uprising	4	-2	9		6		9		6		7		41	6.8
Rank	Rookie	K,B,Q		P,A,F		L,N,C		H,M,B		G,O,Q		D,E,J		Total	Avg
1	SDMW Tanks	3	-1	7		2		6	-1	3		6		27	4.5
2	SDC Child Labor Force	3		1		2		0		1		2		9	1.5

Skydive Midwest had also hosted the June competition of the Midwest Skydiving League, and three team members guided the four teams through the six competition rounds. Katie Healy and Gorka Amian were player-coaching two of the participating teams, and new NEXT member Brian Nasset was on camera for Katie Healy's SDMW Tanks.

SDC Rhythm XP members will do the same when Skydive Chicago is hosting the MWSL September competition. Members of both teams will probably provide their expertise when the Midwest Skydiving League teams and competitors visit Chicagoland Skydiving in July. The third MWSL host is also a Midwest skydiving center with the experiences of national championships. They hosted the USPA Nationals in 2018.

The complete NEXT lineup was present for the ICL Midwest team in June, and they welcomed more new participants and 4-way competitors. Skydive Midwest NEXT themselves performed the two Open Class sequences (AAA/AA) and contributed a total of 40 points to the June account.

Greg Oldendick and Gorka Amian added a total of 37 points with their A and RRR lineups. Katie Healy's and Brian Nasset's Rookie Class team, with new participants Christy Brokens and Mateusz Sirant, performed the other two ICL Rookie Class sequences (RR/R) with a total of 35 points.

Indoor Cloud League June 2023	AAA	AA	A	RRR	RR	R	Total
Teams - ICL Midwest	Q,2,H,10	O,2,21	K,E,19	K,E,O	M,Q,H	M,Q	Total
Skydive Midwest NEXT	20	20	-	-	-	-	40
Crystal Prom, Stanislaw Bukala, Lem Castro, Greg Oldendick	-	-	19	-	-	-	19
Rhiannon Lucente, Ken Serrine, Koemi Valencia, Gorka Amian	-	-	-	18	-	-	18
Christy Brokens, Mateusz Sirant, Katie Healy, Brian Nasset	-	-	-	-	19	16	35
ICL Midwest's Best of June	20	20	19	18	19	16	112

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Indoor Cloud League June 2023: ICL Midwest Highscores

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SDC Rhythm XP and Skydive Midwest NEXT both will soon travel with the U.S. delegation to Voss in Norway and compete at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2023. The most recent NSL Power Rankings are showing both teams in contention for the 5th place behind the same Top 4 who have been challenging each other in the past years.

They will be facing their own strong opponents for the 5th place from Europe (Papea, Amnesya), while they are probably not only aiming at the positions behind the four national teams in the top spots. SDC Rhythm XP's Doug Barron has outscored Qatar and France at the FAI Tanay Mondial, and he tries to bring his current lineup to the same top level.

NMP PCH HayaBusa were out of reach for SDC Rhythm XP in 2021, and the lineup in Tanay could have been much closer after the personnel change in Belgium. However, the Rhythm lineup had their own changes, and HayaBusa is again out of reach at the moment. Doug Barron's new lineup met the same Top 4 at the Shamrock Showdown 2023, and the next showdown will take place in Norway.

Rhythm and NEXT both will try to reduce the distance to the same Top 4 as much as possible and may be aiming even higher, as the Qatar Tigers were vulnerable at their most recent events. However, the Ramadan fasting month is over, and the Tigers will probably be back in full strength in Norway.

FAI Outdoor World Cup 2023			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	NSL Power Rankings 4-way Open		TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2	France 4-way Open	FR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
3	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Papea	ES	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Amnesya	IT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	SDC Rhythm XP	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
5	Skydive Midwest NEXT	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Airbus Illertissen Oceanside	DE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Agera	NO	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
9	Out Of The Blue	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Lightspeed XP	US	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Qatar Cheetahs	QA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
12	Qatar Lions	QA	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	Aurora	SE	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	Chaotic Motion	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	Sequenz	DK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	Whitefish	AU	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
15	Lux	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
20	Deep n Filthy	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
20	4Reigners	UK	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
20	4igami	NL	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-