posted Nov 23rd, 2011 - The Round 9 and 10 videos of the Top 5 teams at the USPA Nationals 2011 wrap up this part of the NSL News aftermath and feature the most dramatic part of the race for medals in the AAA/Open Class competition.

Arizona Airspeed added two more sole highscores to the championship account and walked away with a 25-point distance after all ten rounds and the gold medals. The battle for the silver and bronze medals was still wide open after Round 8. SDC Rhythm XP was in 2nd place after the first round on the second meet day, two points ahead of the Golden Knights and five points up on Perris Fury.

Round 9 brought the drama to an incredible level of excitement when Golden Knights and Perris Fury picked up the pace in a desperate effort to catch the underdog. It worked well for the challengers, as Rhythm ended up two points behind both teams in working time and lost an additional point due to a flat video angle after the exit.

USPA Nationals 2011		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA/Open Class	M,5,13	21,14,22	12,20,D	11,Q,16	O,C,10,K	P,L,19,8	18,6,2	15,9,G	7,F,17	A,B,N,J,3	Total	Avg
1	USA Arizona Airspeed	25	19	19 (-1)	22 (-1)	26 (-1)	24	21	26	31	30	243	24.3
2	USA Golden Knights Gold	18 (-1)	17	18	21	24	23	19	21 (-1)	29	28 (-1)	218	21.8
3	USA Perris Fury	20 (-2)	17	16 (-2)	21	26	22 (-1)	15 (-2)	21 (-2)	29	29	216	21.6
4	SDC Rhythm XP	22	17	18	21	24	20 (-1)	19	22 (-1)	26 (-1)	26 (-3)	215	21.5
5	USA Paraclete XP4	21	16	16	20	23	19 (-2)	17	22	26	28 (-1)	208	20.8

The Golden Knights had now taken the 2nd place by one point, and Perris Fury was down by only two points in 4th place, with another fast sequence to come in Round 10. In fact, the situation was almost perfect for a team that had to come from behind. The last two rounds of the competition brought the two fastest sequences to the teams. Everything was still possible after Round 8, and the scores of Round 9 brought the evidence.

It was tragic from the SDC Rhythm XP perspective that the outcome of Round 10 was almost a copy of Round 9. Golden Knights and Perris Fury once again took their chances and succeeded, while the Rhythm members had to watch their medals fade away when the jumps were judged live on DZ-TV. Rhythm ended up in 4th place.

There was also once again bad luck for Rhythm in Round 10. The online judges can once again help the NSL News to find the reason for the penalty in the transition from the exit Unipod to the Stairstep Diamond. One single point would have been enough for Rhythm to get at least a jumpoff round, and the team had lost a few questionable points over the ten rounds.

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However, the Rhythm members knew that they could have won the deserved medals by themselves - with or without more or less luck in the judging room. Points were also lost when the team fell out of synch or due to other athletic reasons. Eventually, the young team took it all as another learning experience and is convinced to come out of it as a stronger team. The NSL Talk session with all four Rhythm members at the end of the event on 7 November 2011 shows how the team digested the 4th place experience.

The USPA Nationals 2011 were only another step on the way. SDC Rhythm XP moves on with three members after Rob Radez' last meet at the upcoming 3rd Dubai Championship 2011. The tryout for the open Center Inside slot is scheduled for December 16th at the Paraclete XP windtunnel in Raeford.

Then there is only one goal left. Rhythm missed the goal of winning a medal at the USPA Nationals 2011. However, the team and the skydiving world knows that Rhythm performed on the medal level, and the team is ready to skip this year's goal. The number one position in the USA is the next goal, and this means that Rhythm will then compete for the world championship title, which is the ultimate goal for any 4-way team.