Did you know that Matt Davidson once had a lot of sand in his shoes? posted: Apr 26th, 2025 Matt Davidson is currently one of the three most successful 8-way competitors in the history of formation skydiving competition since 1985. Only Scott Rhodes and Craig Girard match his six gold medals that he has won in the active lineups of Golden Knights and Paraclete XP8/GKXP8 at FAI outdoor world championships. Scott Rhodes won all his 8-way gold medals with the Golden Knights, while Craig Girard and Matt Davidson both added more 8-way gold to their collections after they had left the U.S. Army team.
Craig Girard won his last 8-way world championship title at the Tanay Mondial 2020, while... (more)
Did you know that Aethers could end a long 4-way drought for France? posted: Apr 24th, 2025 France was actually the dominating nation in 4-way Formation Skydiving competition between 1985 and 2003, with six world championship titles, three sets of silver medals and one 3rd place, even though the original Arizona Airspeed lineup (Jack Jefferies, Kirk Verner, Dan BC, Mark Kirkby, John Lemming on camera) won twice in 1995 and 1997. The U.S. 4-way teams took home the William H. Ottley Sword for the world champions, also known as the 4-way Excalibur, four times in the same time period, with five sets of silver medals and one 3rd place, as well.
In fact, the four consecutive world championship... (more)
Did you know that Thomas, Tim and Moritz Mack competed together for Airbus 4-way? posted: Apr 23rd, 2025 The NSL News has covered special family lineups in 4-way competition for many years, as it is a fascinating topic when parents, brothers and sisters jump from air planes together. The most recent story was the one of the Mattoni family (father Stephane, sons Tom and Noe) who visited Paraclete XP for the FAI Indoor World Championship 2025. NSL Live Talk with the Mattoni family was posted with the update on April 16th.
Germany had its own family story, as well, when Joern and Max Thiele dominated 4-way competition in Germany with Paratec-Saar for several years. They competed together for Germany... (more)
Did you know that indoor and outdoor leaderboards look significantly different? posted: Apr 22nd, 2025 The high-level field of teams at the Shamrock Showdown 2025 required a panel of judges who would have their own competition experiences and all expertise and knowledge that is currently available in formation skydiving competition.
Claire King, Dirk Venter and Jim Rees all had jobs in judging and meet management at the FAI Indoor World Championship 2025 and made the same road trip to Florida as Aethers (FR), Arizona Airspeed (US) and Netunos (BR). They have attended Shamrock Showdown events in the past, as well, and committed early to the double-pack of high-level events.
Dirk Venter and... (more)
Did you know that five different teams won the five $200 skins at the Shamrock? posted: Apr 21st, 2025 The Shamrock Showdown 2025 was not over until the traditional Skins Game was completed. Skydive DeLand sponsored the event once again with a total of $2,000 cash for prize money. Half of it goes to the teams in the Top 3 positions ($500 - $300 - $200) according to the raw scores after Round 10.
French national team Aethers earned the $500 with a historic performance after ten rounds without any point deductions. The Golden Knights would have won the $300 for the 2nd place over Arizona Airspeed and donated the prize money back into the funds. It was forwarded to the only 8-way team in DeLand,... (more)
Did you know that world class competitors cheered for the A Class teams in DeLand? posted: Apr 21st, 2025 The Shamrock Showdown 2025 started once again with the introduction of the teams and the manual competition draw on Thursday evening. The new indoor world champions from France, Aethers, were introduced first and then pulled the sequence for Round 1 out of the hat, followed by ten other teams who created the complete competition draw.
Engineering and preparations for the first round on Friday morning were next, and the creeper pad was busy for a while before the last night and the start of the competition.
Aethers (FR), Arizona Airspeed (US), Cheetahs (QA) and Netunos (BR) had transitioned... (more)
Did you know that Matt Davidson once had a lot of sand in his shoes?
Did you know that Aethers could end a long 4-way drought for France?
Did you know that Thomas, Tim and Moritz Mack competed together for Airbus 4-way?
Did you know that indoor and outdoor leaderboards look significantly different?
Did you know that five different teams won the five $200 skins at the Shamrock?
Did you know that world class competitors cheered for the A Class teams in DeLand?