posted May 1st, 2011 - The first 4-way meet in Russia this year could hardly have been any more exciting, and the scores promise more great competition on the top level.

Gradient Alpha turned the table on the second day of the meet and changed the 3-point deficit into a 1-point victory over SportLoto on Sunday. Most of the penalties have now been added to the leaderboard and show equal damage between the two top contenders.

The scores of the Illusions on the second day of the meet deserve special attention, as well. It seems like the new all-female lineup was a different team on Sunday. The scores on Saturday weren't that bad, however, they were significantly lower compared to the two teams on the top of the leaderboard. This was completely different in the last four rounds where the Illusions kept within striking distance to the top level. In fact, the Russian ladies even won Round 8 with a sole highscore, which is like a statement for the potential of the team.

April 30th, 2011		Round1	Round2	Round3	Round4	Round5	Round6	Round7	Round8	Round9	Round10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class	9,21,6	13,H,L,2	20,12,7	E,K,10,F	11,P,C,G	J,19,16	15,O,D,1	B,3,4	M,8,A,5	Q,14,17	Total	Avg
1	Russia Gradient Alpha	18(-1)	18	17	23	23	21	20	22	20	20	202	20.2
2	Russia SportLoto	21	16(-1)	18	24	23	21	19	20	20	19	201	20.1
3	Russia Illusions	17	14	15	21	18	17	19	17	21	18	177	17.7
4	Russia Sky 45	16(-1)	12(-3)	12(-1)	20	18	17	13	17	15	15	155	15.5
5	Russia Rubick	14	13	12	18	16	13	11	12	14	11	134	13.4
6	Russia Vertical	15	13	10(-1)	14	15(-1)	14	13	13	14	12	133	13.3
7	Russia Black Cat	18	16	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	34	17.0

The NSL News spent the same weekend at Skydive Sebastian to promote the grassroot level of 4-way competition, while SDC Rhythm XP was in the middle of the last training camp in the southern Rhythm headquarters.

Rhythm had invited former 4-way world champion of 2006, Shannon Pilcher, to provide input from a different point of view. Rhythm is usually working with Paraclete XP4 member and former Airspeed 4-way and 8-way world champion Kirk Verner. The US top team has also had current Airspeed member Thomas Hughes as a coach.

Shannon Pilcher spent almost a whole week with Rhythm in Sebastian and left his own signature footprints on Rhythm's path toward the top position in the USA. Rhythm videographer Jason Imamura provided a few new videos of Rhythm jumps with Shannon Pilcher, and the audience can look for evidence of Shannon Pilcher's work. The NSL News also spent a few minutes with the Rhythm members and coach Shannon Pilcher for a new NSL Talk right before the last training jump of the day.

The same video clip also includes footage of the 4-way jumps on the grassroot level in Sebastian. Participants and videographers both had the opportunity to learn more about the sport, which was supported by Skydive Sebastian with free slots for player coaches and video.

The offer of free coaching and very affordable 4-way jumps with video even motivated former FSL competitor Earl Coggin to come back to the sport after many years of hibernation. He used to train and compete with Fource4 and is ready to return to the Florida 4-way community.

An interesting aspect of the Rhythm training was the competition in Russia on the same weekend, where SportsLoto put up some great outdoor scores. SportLoto was Rhythm's toughest opponent at the World Challenge 2011 just a few weeks ago. The Rhythm members said that they will probably copy the same competition draw at the next training camp.