posted Oct 8th, 2024 - Formation Skydiving competition was on a break on Monday at the 26th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships, and the teams staid away from the dropzone. Jump preparations for the remaining competition rounds were on the agenda for some of them, while others used the free time for recreational activities in the beautiful area of Crystal Coast.

There was no break for some of the competitors and coaches. GKXP8 members Kirk Verner and John D'Annunzio are working with the hosting staff of all events, and they were present while the other world championship disciplines launched their own competitions.

French national coach Mathieu Bernier was available for his whole delegation, as well as Carl-Erik Tuv for the Norwegian delegation. The NSL News used the opportunity for a conversation on Monday afternoon. Mathieu Bernier and Carl-Erik Tuv both have one team each in the two horizontal 4-way events. Carl-Erik Tuv has one overlapping situation, and he is also following the situation in 4-way VFS, where Thyra's team videographer Dennis Barstad is competing for Blue Pelican in front of the camera. He is the only competitor with different double duties at Crystal Coast, as he follows the same path as the Canadian 4-way team Evolution in Prostejov 2014 who competed in 4-way Open and 4-way VFS. Evolution won FAI bronze medals in both events, and Thyra's Dennis Barstad is on his way to silver medals in 4-way VFS with Blue Pelican.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2024			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		14,G,13		J,C,17,12		D,A,21,P		18,B,H,F		E,L,O,8		22,2,K		6,7,16		9,20,15		3,M,N,4		5,1,10		19,11,Q		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	24		27	-1	33		36		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		120	30.0
2	Aethers	FR	22		23	-4	33		32	-1	-		-		-		-		-		-		-		110	27.5
3	Qatar Tigers	QA	21		20	-3	26	-2	32		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		99	24.8
4	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	19		21	-2	25		25		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		90	22.5
5	Echochamber	SE	17		21	-1	24	-2	26		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		88	22.0
6	Airbus Illertissen Oceanside	DE	17		19		21	-1	26		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		83	20.8
7	Apex	UK	15		18		21	-2	25		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		79	19.8
8	Agera	NO	14	-1	17	-2	18	-2	26		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		75	18.8
9	Out Of The Blue	NL	13	-1	17		22	-1	22	-1	-		-		-		-		-		-		-		74	18.5
10	Papea	ES	14	-1	15	-2	23		20	-1	-		-		-		-		-		-		-		72	18.0
11	Netunos	BR	11		15	-1	17	-1	18	-1	-		-		-		-		-		-		-		61	15.3
11	Havoc	AU	13		13	-2	19	-1	16	-1	-		-		-		-		-		-		-		61	15.3

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NSL Live Talk with Carl-Erika Tuv and Mathieu Bernier

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Aethers and Agera with Round 4

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Mathieu Bernier is very familiar with double duties, as he is still the only Formation Skydiving competitor who won FAI gold medals at a world championship in 4-way and 8-way both at the same event. He tried to accomplish the same as the French national coach in Tanay 2021when both French 4-way teams joined forces for the 8-way competition.

The 8-way team, with Mathieu Bernier himself in the lineup, finished one point short of the 1st place after only seven rounds, his 4-way Women team by two points after six rounds, and the 4-way Open team left Russia without medals. The French Formation Skydiving delegation has not had any double-duty attempts since 2021, and there is none at Crystal Coast.

Aethers are currently in 2nd place behind Arizona Airspeed, Nephtys in 3rd place one single point behind China after Round 4. Mathieu Bernier was hoping that Aethers would be closer to Arizona Airspeed, and his team has tied one of the U.S. scores so far. He did not expect Nephtys to threaten XPG4, and the competition with China behind the leader has been exciting. Carl-Erika Tuv provided another review of the challenging Thyra situation before and during the 4-way Women competition. 4-way Open Class team Agera have work to do if they still want to catch and defeat the Germans, as they set for one of their goals. Tuesday morning began with 8-way competition.

FAI Outdoor World Championship 2024 FS4			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		14,G,13		J,C,17,12		D,A,21,P		18,B,H,F		E,L,O,8		22,2,K		6,7,16		9,20,15		3,M,N,4		5,1,10		19,11,Q		Total	Avg
1	XPG4	US	19	-1	22	-1	28		30	-1	-		-		-		-		-		-		-		99	24.8
2	China	CN	18	-1	17	-4	29		27		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		91	22.8
3	Nephtys	FR	17		20		27		26	-1	-		-		-		-		-		-		-		90	22.5
4	Meltemi Oceanside Illertissen	DE	16		17		21		23		-		-		-		-		-		-		-		77	19.3
5	Thyra	NO	12		14		18		14	-2	-		-		-		-		-		-		-		58	14.5

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Nephtys and Thyra with Rounds 4

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