posted Nov 14th, 2024 - The most recent change in the Arizona Airspeed lineup will probably continue for a while as a big topic. Personnel changes are not unusual at all in Formation Skydiving competition, as they are a significant part of any team sport. However, it is a special event when the reigning 4-way world champion team is dealing with this situation.

It was well know ahead of time that Niklas Hemlin and Mikhail Markine would not continue after this year's world championship, and they followed through with their retirement from highly competitive outdoor training. Joey Marshall and Chris Kuhlmann had enough time for their selection process, together with returning team videographer Alex Swindle, even though they still had to continue with all the other obligations of a full-time competitor.

The NSL News provided a brief introduction of the two new team members after the official Airspeed announcement that Doug Hendrix and Alisson de Vargas were selected for the two open slots. The selection offered another new Airspeed combination of returning members and their new team mates. The 30-year history of Arizona Airspeed includes several different variations of the lineup selections, and the recent one is a relatively rare option. Two reigning 2-time world champions have invited two individuals with very different backgrounds and histories in the sport.

Arizona Airspeed lineups between 1994 and 2025

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Only one Airspeed member (Mark Kirkby) continued when the original lineup retired after their third world championship in 1999, and he selected three new team mates single-handedly (Craig Girard, John Eagle, Neal Houston) for the next four years. Craig Girard then continued with his own three new team mates (Eliana Rodriguez, Andy Delk, Brian Johnston) for two years before Mark Kirkby was back to replace Brian Johnston for the next four years.

Mark Kirkby was in the same position in 2010 as he had been in 1999, and once again he selected three new team mates single-handedly (Niklas Hemlin, Thomas Hughes, Josh Hall) for the next Airspeed lineup and the next gold medal in Dubai 2012.

The next transition brought a change in the selection method, as Airspeed's Mark Kirkby and Thomas Hughes together selected their new team mates for the next two years, and they recruited both as a 2-way package from SDC Rhythm XP (Thiago Gomes, Chris Farina).

Thomas Hughes, Thiago Gomes and Chris Farina then replaced Mark Kirkby with Niklas Hemlin for the 2015 season, and the lineup changed again a year later when the next former Rhythm member Mikhail Markine replaced Chris Farina in 2016. Niklas Hemlin, Mikhail Markine and Thiago Gomes continued together with Ari Perelman for two years (2017 - 2018), then with Matt Davidson in 2019. Niklas Hemlin and Mikhail Markine began to build the foundation for the next nine Airspeed years and the return of the William H. Ottley Sword for the 4-way world champions, also known as the 4-way Excalibur, to the United States and Eloy.

USPA Nationals 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open Class		7,C,H,P		J,21,20		O,3,11		B,2,K,E		8,Q,10		15,D,F,12		N,L,M,14		6,1,9		A,18,13		G,4,5		17,16,22		Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	45	-1	24		27		37		21		25		34		25	-1	26	-1	25	-4	-		289	28.9
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	41		22		21	-1	33		21		23		27		25		24		25		21	-1	262	26.2
3	Arizona Airspeed	US	40	-1	24		22	-2	32		19	-2	24		29		25		21	-2	26	-1	20	-2	262	26.2
4	Defiance	US	30	-1	21		15	-4	28		16		19		22	-3	21		18	-1	18	-1	-		208	20.8
5	Ranch 2nd Generation	US	26		19		19		24	-2	16	-1	17	-1	24		18	-1	19		19		-		201	20.1
6	Kinetix	AU	26		18		17		22		13	-1	17		18	-1	17		17		17		-		182	18.2
7	Lite XP	US	24	-1	17		17		22		15		17		20	-2	16	-1	14		17		-		179	17.9
8	No Name	US	22	-4	17		14		19	-2	12	-2	13		14	-3	15		14		16		-		156	15.6
9	Aviatrixx	US	21		14		13	-1	18	-1	12	-2	15		17	-1	14	-1	12		14		-		150	15.0
10	Perris Force	US	20		13	-1	14		18		11	-1	11		18	-1	13	-1	12		12	-1	-		142	14.2

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Arizona Airspeed - Ranch 2nd Generation at the USPA Nationals 2019

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The Niklas Hemlin/Mikhail Markine 2-way then applied a selection method that happened only once before in the Airspeed history when Mark Kirkby and Thomas Hughes invited two SDC Rhythm XP members to leave their team and join them. They recruited another 2-way from Ranch 2nd Generation (R2G), Joey Marshall and Chris Kuhlmann, which turned out very successfully with two sets of FAI gold medals.

Joey Marshall and Chris Kuhlmann had spent five years together with R2G (Brenn Richards, Michelle Karamon, Jeana Billings) and were already on their way to the top level of 4-way competition with their own team. The Niklas Hemlin/Mikhail Markine 2-way and the Joey Marshall/Chris Kuhlmann was a great foundation for the success that came quickly and convincingly.

The current selection of the two new members resembles more the Airspeed time period when NMP PCH HayaBusa dominated the world's 4-way competition between 2013 and 2021. Arizona Airspeed's most successful time period was throughout the years with the most consistent lineups, and the recruitment of direct opponents and highly experienced 4-way competitors. The new Airspeed lineup is probably facing a steep hill to climb, even though Joey Marshall and Chris Kuhlmann have selected their new team mates very carefully and according to their own highest standards and experiences. However, they still have only one year to get ready for the world championship qualification at the USPA Nationals 2025.