posted Aug 10th, 2008 - It did not take too long this morning until people on the interview list were available for the NSL News. The weather still does not allow any jumping at the moment, and the teams are on stand-by. Jerome David, national coach and manager of the French Formation Skydiving teams, took the time to visit the NSL office in the press room.

First thing he did after entering the room was serving the whole media staff with fresh coffee. That came, of course, after greeting each female staff member with kisses on both cheeks and handshakes for the men. And that happens every morning when people meet each other in France.

The weather situation was the main topic for the NSL News in the interview. The four members of the French 4-way team (Guillaume Bernier, Mathieu Bernier, Julien Degen, Jeremie Rollet) are also members of the 8-way lineup, and they have double duties at the World Meet 2008. Only four of the German EADS members (Markus Bastuck, Dieter Schwarz, Jörn Thiele, Max Thiele) and Italy's Marco Arrigo have the same double duties as competitors.

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The 4-way and 8-way events are usually separated from each other at FAI's international A Category events. One event runs in the morning, the other one in the afternoon, and they also take turns day by day. However, the rules do not require this procedure, it is just applied to make it easier and more predictable for the teams and officials.

This schedule makes it also easier for competitors who attend both events. It is not only the logistical part that takes pressure off the few participants with double duties. 4-way and 8-way are very different, and it requires a change of the mindset at the same time.

It can become tricky for meet management and competitors with double duties when the weather does not cooperate well. In the worst case, that's when the event is running out of time, the meet director may have to put all teams of all categories on a stand-by status and switch back and forth between 4-way and 8-way at any given time.

It is the choice of the competitors to do only one event or compete in both categories. They cannot expect the meet director to accommodate their situation if the weather situation becomes tricky. The meet director is obligated to use the time as efficiently as possible.

Jerome David does not anticipate a serious problem. He is sure that the weather will be good enough to complete the meet without major problems. He also said that his teams are prepared for the challenge of double duties, even though they did not get much meet practice for it this year.

He was not surprised by the strong US 8-way performance in the training round. He said that the US lineup showed him early enough that there will be a tough contender. The video of the live interview in Maubeuge can be viewed by clicking here.

Well, this actually means that the video will be available as soon as the internet traffic in Maybeuge allows the uploading, apologies for the delay. The current weather situation has many laptop computers in use at the dropzone...

18th FAI World Formation Skydiving Championships 2008
Who will win medals in 8-way?	France - Maubeuge USA - KnightTrax Italy - Ex3mo Germany - EADS United Kingdom - Connextion
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