posted Sep 26th, 2023 - The two French national teams in 4-way Open and 4-way Women did not have much time either after the completion of the 23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving at Skydive Voss in Norway before they were back in action at their national outdoor championship in Gap.

They had less than two weeks to get ready for the next competition and a new 10-round draw. The 4-way teams at the outdoor world cup in Norway had to master nine blocks at the beginning of the ten competition sequences, as the NSL News reported on August 21st.

The next draw for the French national 4-way teams was not much different, as seven of the completed nine rounds were challenging them again with the same time-consuming maneuvers after the exit. Only two rounds started with random formations, which were both followed immediately by blocks on the sub-terminal first page.

The U.S. teams who traveled from Norway to Skydive Paraclete XP a little later for the USPA Nationalsfound themselves in a more relaxing situation with a faster competition draw which even offered an opportunity to finish with new team records. Rounds 1 and 10 had fast sequences, and four rounds began with random formations.

French Outdoor Nationals 2023		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way AAA/Open	H,12,L,2		6,21,N		3,O,13		10,G,J,22		8,11,B		14,E,5		A,19,C,P		18,M,16		20,7,1		Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Cypres Lille	20		23		23		19		21		24		26	-1	20		19		195	21.7
2	Aerodyne Cypres Maubeuge	16		16		19		14		16		16		23		16		15		151	16.8
3	Espoir Lille Hauts de France	15		15	-2	14	-1	14		13		9	-2	22		15		13		130	14.4
4	Awesome 4 Monaco	10		12		7		8		7		10		11		11		9		85	9.4
5	Starfish	6		9		9		4		8		8		11		7		9		71	7.9

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French Outdoor Nationals 2023 AAA Top 3 - Video footage courtesy of Federation Francaise de Parachutisme

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The French national 4-way Open Class team finished even significantly behind their own average in Norway, while the 4-way Women team were only slightly behind their performance and scoring level. Both teams are now back in training with national coach Mathieu Bernier at the skydiving center in Pamiers.

The national outdoor championship in France is not very meaningful, as it does not qualify any team for the next world championship or world cup. The national coach has the full authority to recruit the members for the French lineups in all events, and he assigns them to their teams and slots. The current lineups knew as soon as they were selected that they would represent France at this year's world cup and next year's world championship.

The two 2nd places in Norway were all that national coach Mathieu Bernier could expect from his teams at this point in time. In fact, winning the silver medals for the 4-way Open Class team was a step in the right direction for coach and team. The same 4-way lineup had missed a medal position at the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2022, and they had to defeat Qatar Tigers and NMP PCH HayaBusa to finish in 2nd place.

The new 4-way Women lineup maintained the 2nd place that they finished in at the same event in October 2022. U.S. team XPG4 is far ahead at the moment, and the Nephtys will continue and try to reduce the distance.

23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		3,G,N,19		11,17,L		13,7,C		2,D,O,8		14,K,J,12		9,M,P,H		5,4,18		15,1,10		16,21,E		F,20,6		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	26		27		26		25		22		48	-1	22		21		25		25		267	26.7
2	France 4-way Open	FR	23		25	-1	26		24		19		45	-1	19		19		23		23		246	24.6
3	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	20	-4	20	-2	25		23	-1	18	-2	45		20		19		24		24		238	23.8
Rank	4-way Women		3,G,N,19		11,17,L		13,7,C		2,D,O,8		14,K,J,12		9,M,P,H		5,4,18		15,1,10		16,21,E		F,20,6		Total	Avg
1	XPG4	US	21		20		20	-1	19		17		38		16	-1	16	-1	18	-2	18	-1	203	20.3
2	France 4-way Women	FR	17		15	-1	20		17		15		33		14		14	-1	14	-2	18		177	17.7
3	Meltemi Oceanside	DE	12	-2	15		16		16		11		25	-1	12		12		15		16		150	15.0

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France 4-way Open - France 4-way Women at the 23rd FAI World Cup of Formation Skydiving, Video footage courtesy of InTime/FAI/ISC

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National coach Mathieu Bernier is preparing his next generation of 4-way top competitors in the meantime with the lineup of Espoir Lille Hauts de France, which is a part of the French national Formation Skydiving delegation. At least two of the names of the team members will be known by the experts in the sport.

The NSL News has covered the French 4-way junior projects just as carefully as the one in the Czech Republic. Cameron Malie and Oscar Massier have trained the 4-way dive pool since they were young teenagers with the Aerokart Ak'demie lineups. They were in the same Ak'demie 2 lineup with Tom Mattoni since 2016, who is now the youngest team member of the current French national team in 4-way Open.

All three together transitioned to outdoor training and competition in 2020 and won their first AAA Class bronze medals at the French Outdoor Nationals 2021. National coach Mathieu Bernier then recruited team members Tom Mattoni and Mathieu Quizy for the new national 4-way Open Class team.

Cameron Malie and Oscar Massier have joined forces with Axel Martinez and Thomas Misztal, two other young and talented French 4-way competitors, and Mathieu Bernier was on camera for the team at their first outdoor competition together.