posted Mar 28th, 2006 - Round 4 of the FSL Shamrock Showdown 2006 is now ready for the NSL-TV audience. It was the fastest round of the competition and offered each team the opportunity to log in new record scores. DeLand Fire ended up posting a new unofficial world record with the team's 47-pointer after a 1-point deduction.

DeLand Fire also used the opportunity of the fast round to complete the catch-up situation with Italy's Sinapsi PD. The US national team had been six points behind Sinapsi PD after the first two rounds and came back with the highscore in round three, which reduced the Italian lead to three points.

DeLand Fire won additional five points over Sinapsi PD with the peak performance in round four, and the situation on the top of the leaderboard had changed dramatically. DeLand Fire was now two points ahead of Sinapsi PD after four rounds.

The news of the 47-pointer in round four made it quickly around the globe, and the sponsor of both top teams, Performance Designs, posted the news on the company's website, as well. One story covered DeLand Fire's performance in round four, while the other one announced Sinapsi PD's victory after ten rounds.

DeLand Fire on FIRE

DeLand Fire has had a bit of a rocky start this year (one member being injured) so the team only had 3 days of training together before going into the Shamrock Showdown. They started off a little slow but then things picked up in round 3 - and on round 4 evertything came together for a new world record: 47 points in time (still unofficial). A link to the a video of the record round can be found on the NSL website. The team took 2nd place with a 23.2 average and is ready and focused for the season ahead. For the next competition, DeLand Fire will have their new Team USA canopies, stand by for photos!

Sinapsi takes the Gold

Sinapsi PD had a great meet at the Shamrock Showdown at Skydive DeLand on March 18th-19th. They won the meet with a 23.9 average (which is an unofficial world record) over 10 rounds. The draw was pretty fast, but this is still a very impressive score! A post-competition interview with a few members of the team can be found on the NSL website. Sinapsi PD just took delivery of their new PD canopies, Pete Allum (the team captain) was heard saying "We think that the new colors had a lot to do with our success at this meet". So, if your team isn't doing that great, perhaps it's time to think about getting a new set of PD canopies!

One of the teams that posted new record scores came from the Czech Republic. The Zero Team used the opportunity of a training camp in DeLand to get additional competition experience. The Czech team consists of Jaroslav Hrstka (Center Outside), Karel Kott (Point), Jiri Moro (Center Inside), Jan Petricek (Tail) with Eva Malikova on video.

The Zero Team was formed in 2005 and chose the name since it was a start from nowhere and with nothing. The first result was a 6.8 average at the Czech Republic Nationals in 2005. The Zero Team trains in Pribram, 50 km south of Prague. Team sponsors include a swimming pool company owned by point flyer Karel Kott.

The visit in Florida included a complete 4-way experience, with the Shamrock Showdown, training in DeLand and tunnel time at SkyVenture Orlando. Czech born and DeLand based coach Robert Chromy was working with the team throughout the training camp and the competition. Chromy is also the player coach of the current Czech national 4-way team.

The Zero Team was one of the few teams that took the time to show the Random Formation M (Star) the way it is printed in the dive pool and repeated this picture on each page in a very disciplined way. The Czech team will once again join the Czech Skydiving League competition this year.