posted Sep 19th, 2023 - The story of the 4-way Super Sequence in Round 1 at the USPA Nationals 2023 began on Sunday evening during the opening ceremony at the end of the day. Meet Director Randy Connell and Chief Judge Judy Celaya handed out copies of the competition draw to the team captains after the welcome briefing for the 56 teams. The participation was significantly higher than last year when 48 teams competed at Skydive Chicago.

It was not a live competition draw as it was done at Skydive Voss for the 23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving, where Dutch judge Rogier Carper drew the numbers and letters manually from the hat and created a historic competition draw, when nine consecutive rounds had block maneuvers at the start of the sequences.

The competition draw at the USPA Nationals was generated by InTime's computer system, and it began with a real Super Sequence (O,E,C,Q,H) in Round 1. Super Sequences are rare enough in a 4-way AAA competition draw, and it is extremely unusual that one is drawn for the very first round. The NSL News met InTime owners and operators Claire King and Dirk Venter on Monday morning before the first round began. Both are also experienced FAI judges and explained how the draw for the major events is usually generated.

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NSL TV Unfiltered on 18 September 2023 at Skydive Paraclete XP

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To make sure that it is a randomly generated competition draw, the judges first draw a random number that determines how many times a draw will be created until it becomes the one for the competition. This time, the system's 4th draw would be the one for the 4-way Open and Advanced Class competition at the USPA Nationals. The 4th draw then ended up with the Super Sequence in Round 1.

The most experienced 4-way and 8-way competitors in the world have explained to the NSL News and the audience often enough how challenging the opening round of any competition is, for every team and for every competitor on every skills and experience level. Apprehension and anxiety create the highest level of performance pressure for any sequence in Round 1. The pressure is usually reduced significantly after Round 1.

Any Super Sequence requires the highest level of concentration and attention, as there is not much time for any thoughts or reactions, compared to block maneuvers, which are well known and well prepared by teams in training and allow a certain time frame between scoring formations.

The combination of Round 1 with a Super Sequence becomes a challenge of the highest level, and even the best teams in the world have to face it with all consequences, as Arizona Airspeed demonstrated in Round 1 of the USPA Nationals.

USPA Nationals 2023		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA/4-way Open	O,E,C,Q,H		20,M,J,1		10,12,B		4,18,L		11,17,5		8,9,22		A,19,K,13		G,3,2		21,14,15		D,F,7,N		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	43	-8	29		22		23	-1	28		21		26		23		20		33	-2	268	26.8
2	XPG4	46	-2	21		17		17		20		17	-1	23		18		17		29	-1	225	22.5
3	SDC Rhythm XP	48	-4	19		17		16		20		17		22		17	-1	16		25	-1	217	21.7
4	Golden Knights	39	-3	23		18		17	-1	21		17	-1	24		15	-2	14		28		216	21.6
5	Pour Decisions	35	-1	18		15		16		18		16		20		15		14		23	-1	190	19.0
6	RhEvolution XP	27	-4	19		13		15		16		15		16	-1	16		13		23		173	17.3
7	Skydive Midwest NEXT	26	-4	18	-1	12	-2	15		17		14		17		15		13		23		170	17.0
8	Spaceland Apex	22	-5	11	-1	11	-2	14		15		13	-2	19		14		13		22		154	15.4
9	Alti-2 Technologies	24	-1	12	-1	10		13		13		11	-1	14		11		11		18	-1	137	13.7
10	Rhetirement Party	21		12	-2	11		10	-1	8		12		13		12		10		17		126	12.6
11	Rippin Flatties	10	-4	4		3	-3	5		4	-3	4	-1	6		3		5		10	-3	54	5.4

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Round 1 at the USPA Nationals: Arizona Airspeed - XPG4 - SDC Rhythm XP, video footage courtesy of USPA/InTime

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It was at the USPA Nationals in October 2021 when Arizona Airspeed's current lineup lost a single outdoor round last time. Niklas Hemlin, Christopher Kuhlmann, Mikhail Markine and Joey Marshall still won their first national championship together, with Taylor Buffington on camera, even though SDC Rhythm XP's lineup of the world championship in Russia stole a few rounds.

SDC Rhythm XP of 2021 are still the only team who ever outscored the same Airspeed lineup in any round of an outdoor competition. This changed in Round 1 on Monday morning, and it was a Super Sequence that made Arizona Airspeed stumble. Once again it was SDC Rhythm XP who repeated the upset, even though Doug Barron is the only team member who won the last rounds over Airspeed in October 2021.

The penalty damage and loss of synchronicity for the reigning 4-way world champions in Round 1 was so dramatic that XPG4 scored higher in the same round, as well. It has never happened for the current lineup that two teams outscored them at the same event in any round, neither indoors nor outdoors.

The damage for any Airspeed lineup has never been like that when a Super Sequence came in a later round. NMP PCH HayaBusa won Round 6 in Australia 2018 by two points (62 - 60), after a slow start for the U.S. team. The Belgian 62-pointer is still the standing world record for a single round. The sequence in 2018 was slightly easier with only 21 grips for the whole sequence (Q,M,F,C,N) compared to 24 grips for Round 1 on Monday morning. The story of Round 1 will continue...

FAI World Meet 2018			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		21,L,B,G		22,18,17		19,7,O		J,16,12		10,A,D,15		Q,M,F,C,N		H,20,P,13		6,14,11		E,2,5		4,1,3		Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	32		21		27	-2	24		22	-3	62	-2	22	-2	20	-1	27	-1	22		279	27.9
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	26	-5	21		27	-1	24		24	-1	60	-1	26		22		27		20		277	27.7
3	Aerodyne Realfly	FR	29	-1	19		24	-2	23		24		52	-3	20	-3	17	-3	24		19		251	25.1
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	24	-2	14	-1	24	-1	21		22		53	-4	21	-1	18		20		17		234	23.4
5	Echochamber	SE	25	-1	16		21	-1	17	-2	20	-1	48	-4	14	-3	18		21	-1	15	-1	215	21.5
6	Amnesya	IT	24	-2	14		20	-1	18		18	-1	48	-5	18		14	-2	21	-1	15		210	21.0
7	Satori XL	UK	21		14	-1	21		19		19		37	-3	19		17		18	-1	16	-1	201	20.1
7	Airheads	CH	22	-3	14	-2	19	-2	17	-1	18		44		16		16	-2	18	-1	17		201	20.1
9	Evolution	CA	21	-1	13	-2	22		18	-1	15	-3	43	-2	15	-5	15	-2	19		15		196	19.6
10	Airbus FSZ Saar	DE	21	-1	14	-1	17	-5	17		16	-1	45	-1	15	-3	14	-1	18	-1	15		192	19.2

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FAI Outdoor World Championship 2018: NMP PCH HayaBusa - Arizona Airspeed

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