posted Jan 30th, 2024 - The name of Julien Degen has appeared very regularly in NSL News updates, at least since July 2005, when French national coach Jerome David mentioned him during an interview. At that time, Julien Degen was already selected for the new 8-way lineup who would finally win the first world championship title for France.

French 8-way teams had ended up 11 times behind the U.S. teams and Russia since 1985, and Jerome David was on a mission to change that. He selected a new and young 8-way lineup after the 3rd place on home turf in Gap 2003, with only Emmanuel Sarrazin returning, and including Julien Degen.

The new 8-way lineup moved back up to 2nd place in the team's first year, only three points behind Arizona Airspeed in Rijeka 2004, before they made French history with the first 8-way gold medals in Gera 2006 and defending them successfully two years later on home turf in Maubeuge 2008.

Jerome David also decided to assign four of his 8-way competitors to double duties. Julien Degen, Jeremie Rollett, Guillaume and Mathieu Bernier competed in 4-way and in 8-way for France, as well, beginning in 2007. They missed the first double-gold by one single point in Maubeuge 2008. Julien Degen, Jeremie Rollett and Guillaume Bernier continued only in 4-way and won gold medals in Menzelinsk 2010. Mathieu Bernier added 8-way gold medals to his own collection at the same event.

FAI World Meet 2008			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		B,17,7	H,N,13,A	10,J,C,6	18,12,2	E,3,9	19,O,4	D,M,5,16	14,20,21	Total	Avg
1	Airspeed Odyssey	US	30	32	24	16	29	21	28	15	195	24.4
2	Maubeuge	FR	28	30	23	17	27	23	28	18	194	24.3
3	HayaBusa Defence	BE	27	33	23	17	27	22	25	17	191	23.9
FAI World Championship 2008			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		17,P,4	H,13,7	6,M,1	9,22,C	16,J,8	K,F,G,18	O,Q,5,12	-	Total	Avg
1	Maubeuge	FR	23	18	26	22	22	24	16	-	151	21.6
2	USA	US	18	18	26	21	22	19	16	-	140	20.0
3	Ex3mo	IT	20	16	22	17	18	18	15	-	126	18.0

First French 8-way gold medals in 2008 - Medal winners since 1985

---

The French Formation Skydiving Sweep in Russia was the perfect time to retire for national coach Jerome David, who was rewarded by the NSL News for the very successful coaching career with his NSL Profile. Julien Degen continued as a 4-way and 8-way competitor for France, and his team mate Jeremie Rollett became the next French national coach, also with his own NSL Profile.

Mathieu Bernier was Julien Degen's next team mate who became the French national coach. He succeeded Jeremie Rollett and is still in charge for the French national teams in horizontal Formation Skydiving competition. As well documented by the NSL News, Mathieu Bernier is still the only competitor in history who won 4-way and 8-way medals at the same world championship in Menzelinsk 2010, after the first 1-point miss in Maubeuge 2008.

Julien Degen was a part of Jerome David's whole coaching success story, and he was in Mathieu Bernier's 4-way lineup in 2010. Then he continued with even growing indoor and outdoor intensity, while Jeremie Rollett turned to professional coaching, first as the French national coach, followed by the commitment to build the new Formation Skydiving powerhouse with the Qatar delegation. Julien Degen may or may not become the next French national coach - he is extremely active in supporting new generations of 4-way and 8-way competitors anyway, including his own family. The NSL News reported on 2 April 2023 that he competed with two of his three daughters, Naoni and Zia Degen, at the French Indoor Nationals 2023. As usual, he also competed with two other teams at the same event.

French Indoor Nationals 2023		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	A Class	6,C	G,2	H,A,4	E,19	J,21	O,N,M	K,F,9	B,7	P,8	Q,L,D	Total	Avg
1	Crippled Team	5	9	9	10	10	16	11	14	11	13	108	10.8
2	Saumur Happy Hour	9	8	11	8	10	15	11	13	6	11	102	10.2
3	Degen Sisters	10	6	7	8	8	11	10	9	7	8	84	8.4
4	Aerokart Akdemie Démie Blue Cohesion	7	6	8	8	8	10	8	10	7	8	80	8.0

---

Julien, Naoni and Zia Degen at the French Indoor Nationals 2023, Video Footage Courtesy of Weembi Lille

---

Julien Degen is finally the 5th French Formation Skydiving competitor with a NSL Profile, after his two world champion team mates, Mathieu Bernier and Jérémie Rollett, and previous French world champions and coaches Marin Ferre and Jerome David.

He provided the NSL News with information for the profile story that included his favorite events and funny moments in his career. The two favorite events are probably not surprising, as he was a part of the French FS Sweep in Menzelinsk 2010, and it was also a unique accomplishment to outscore NMP PCH HayaBusa's signature lineup in Bahrain 2018.

His memories of the world championship in Rijeka 2004 might be compromised somehow, while the event generated his funniest moment in skydiving. He mentioned his "hangover after celebrating my 1st world meet in 2004" and "arm-wrestling fights with the Russians in front of all delegations". The results of the arm-wrestling fights are not available, while his French 8-way team finished two points ahead of Russia's Evolution Pro 8-way team in the silver medal position.

He also mentioned Craig Girard as one of his mentors, who was engaged in the entertainment parts at the 2004 event, as well. Craig Girard was his opponent at the same time in Rijeka 2004, and Arizona Airspeed won the 8-way gold medals by three points over France.

FAI World Championship 2004			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		B,P,C,18	9,15,16	K,11,19	E,F,7,5	A,J,21,12	6,4,10	17,Q,L,1	H,14,3	13,22,O	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	20	23	16	17	19	20	19	21	17	172	19.1
2	Maubeuge	FR	21	19	16	16	20	20	19	20	18	169	18.8
3	Evolution Pro	RU	18	20	17	16	18	19	20	20	19	167	18.6
4	Remscheid	DE	15	17	13	11	14	16	12	14	14	126	14.0
5	Ex3mo	IT	12	15	14	11	15	16	13	15	14	125	13.9
6	Australia	AU	10	12	9	9	9	9	10	11	9	88	9.8
7	South Africa	ZA	12	10	6	6	9	11	9	10	10	83	9.2
8	Austria	AT	10	10	9	9	8	10	9	9	8	82	9.1
9	Great Britain	UK	10	6	9	9	8	9	8	7	9	75	8.3
10	Japan	JP	9	6	9	6	5	9	7	5	7	63	7.0