posted May 13th, 2025 - David Ricard has been filming the French national team in 4-way Open since 2018, first Laurence Herve, Damien Gouriou, Kevin Mansion and Charles Rommel in Australia 2018, followed by Damien Gouriou, Alban Rumolo, Aurelien Lemaire and Kevin Mansion at the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020.

He has spent the last three years with the current lineup of the Aethers (Damien Gouriou, Alban Rumolo, Tom Mattoni, Mathieu Quizy) who are now the reigning indoor world champions in 4-way Open and on their way to the next FAI outdoor gold medals. David Ricard will not be a part of the pursuit of the outdoor world championship title any longer after his eight years on camera for the French national teams in 4-way Open.

David Ricard delivered once again a flawless performance on camera at the Shamrock Showdown 2025, which might have inspired his team mates to follow the example. The ten Aethers rounds at Skydive DeLand combined for a historic scoresheet without any point deductions after all ten rounds. However, David Ricard confirmed in DeLand that he will not continue on camera with the team. The Aethers and national coach Mathieu Bernier have to find a new team videographer for the near future, including the pursuit of the FAI outdoor gold medals in 2026.

Shamrock Showdown 2025			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		17,M,10		20,19,F		18,22,K		N,G,3,16		O,E,P,21		9,L,5		6,13,1		C,J,Q,4		D,8,A,H		12,11,14		Total	Avg
1	Aethers	FR	25		23		21		24		34		32		23		32		29		18		261	26.1
2	Golden Knights	US	19	-2	24		18	-2	24		28	-1	26	-2	20		27	-2	26	-1	15	-2	227	22.7
3	Arizona Airspeed	US	23	-1	21		18		22		27	-2	28	-1	18	-1	24	-4	26		17		224	22.4
4	SDC Rhythm XP	US	20		17	-2	17		16	-2	24	-3	24	-1	19		18	-7	21	-1	15		191	19.1
5	Qatar Cheetahs	QA	17	-2	18		14		18	-2	24		19	-2	15	-1	24		21		12	-1	182	18.2
6	Airbus 4-way Illertissen	DE	15	-4	14	-2	13		16		19	-3	19		15		23		19		12		165	16.5
7	Jen and the Double D's	US	15		13	-1	13		13	-1	18	-1	13		13		18	-2	17		9	-2	142	14.2
8	4Action	US	9	-1	10	-1	8	-1	9		13	-1	10		9		11	-3	12		9		100	10.0

---

Historic Performance: Aethers at the Shamrock Showdown 2025

---

Of course, neither the team members nor national coach Mathieu Bernier were surprised, as David Ricard had informed them early enough. They had enough time to look for and find a replacement in the French camera slot for the 4-way Open Class team.

David Ricard was recruited for the camera slot in the French 4-way Open Class teams after his own two years (2016 - 2017) with the French B-Team Espoir Saumur Weembi. His team mates Gaelle Giesen and Aurelien Lemaire were later promoted into the French national teams in 4-way Open (Aurelien Lemaire) and 4-way Women (Gaelle Giesen), and both won silver medals in 8-way at the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020.

The NSL News gave David Ricard and other team members behind the camera special attention on 5 June 2018, after he had filmed the new French team record average in 4-way Open (25.7) at the Coupe de France competition in May 2018. David Ricard continued on camera after his two years with the French B-Team. He was filming the French 8-way team in the dramatic 1-point battle against Airspeed XP8 in Tanay and had double duties in 4-way Open, as well. He has been with the current lineup of the Aethers since Mathieu Bernier recruited them in 2021 and contributed his skills on the way to the world's top position in 4-way competition. Now he will miss the chance to win his own first FAI gold medal.

French Outdoor Nationals 2020		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Total	Avg
Rank	AA Class	G,Q,E,H	J,20,18	A,7,M	C,13,N	19,14	21,L,1	D,P,6	4,11	O,K,9	Total	Avg
1	Monaco Aerokart Maubeuge	0	11	16	14	9	16	18	12	16	112	12.4
2	Engrenages	8	7	9	8	7	9	10	8	11	77	8.6
3	RASPU Rockett Maubeuge	5	5	7	7	5	5	6	5	5	50	5.6
4	Sky Flow	5	4	8	4	5	5	3	3	2	39	4.3
5	Pop Star St Flo	4	3	6	5	1	3	3	3	4	32	3.6
6	Alliance Maubeuge ASPU EDCL	3	1	6	3	1	4	0	2	2	22	2.4

---

Aerokart Ak'demie at the French Outdoor Nationals 2020

---

The path into the lineup of the French national teams in 4-way Open, either in front of or behind the camera, seems to require time in the French B-teams. The successor on camera for the Aethers, Cameron Malie, has spent quite some time in the French 4-way junior and B-teams. Cameron Malie and Aethers member Tom Mattoni have shared a lot of time together in different indoor flying chambers.

Together they also transitioned to outdoor training and competition and won their first outdoor meet in the AA Class of the French Outdoor Nationals 2020. In fact, it was the complete lineup of Aerokart Ak'demie's 4-way junior and B-Team Espoir Lille Hauts de France (Tom Mattoni, Cameron Malie, Eliot Massier, Oscar Massier) who won the French national AA Class outdoor championship title.

It was exactly the same lineup who had battled with the Czech 4-way Women junior team, the HF Cubs, for the 4-way junior world championship title at Weembi Lille 2019. HF Cubs won by seven points (242 - 235) after eight rounds and became the first Czech 4-way world champion team. The same Aerokart Ak'demie lineup were actually the defending 4-way junior world champions after winning in Montreal 2017, with the HF Cubs finishing in 3rd place. Tom Mattoni and his new Aethers videographer Cameron Malie together now have to fend off the next former 4-way junior team from the Czech Republic who plan to become 4-way world champions in the near future, Skywalkers Junior, this time in 4-way outdoor competition at the next FAI World Championship in 2026.

FAI Indoor World Meet 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Junior		14,6		11,J,O		9,2		7,D,F		20,B,21		1,M,P		8,15		Q,H,18		Total	Avg
1	HF Cubs	CZ	25		29	-1	31		47		24		34	-1	20	-3	32	-2	242	30.3
2	Aerokart Ak'demie	FR	24	-1	30		29		38		28		31	-2	24		31		235	29.4
3	Russia FS Junior	RU	14	-5	23	-2	19	-4	29		15	-4	26	-1	17		20	-3	163	20.4
4	Skydive Recruitz	UK	10	-2	16		16		20		14	-1	12	-5	10	-4	15		113	14.1

HF Cubs and Aerokart Ak'demie at the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019

---