posted Nov 6th, 2012 - The NSL News just returned to the headquarters in DeLand after the live coverage of the USPA Nationals 2012 at Skydive Arizona. It was the perfect opportunity to check out the status of the four US national teams in the Formation Skydiving events (Arizona Airspeed, Golden Knights in 8way and female 4way, SDC Standard XP).

The NSL News had provided Blue Skies Mag with the latest contribution before the trip to Eloy. Topic was the situation a few months before the Mondial 2012 in Dubai and a possible sweep by the US delegation.

The French delegation had won all four sets of gold medals at the World Meet 2010 and surely want to defend all of them. Is it possible? NMP-PCH Hayabusa and the complete French delegation conducts the final training camp before Dubai in DeLand. The NSL News started the new series of live updates with NMP-PCH Hayabusa today. The video clip of the new NSL Talk is embedded below in the Blue Skies Mag article.

Turning Points: Turning Tables

It wasn't too long ago that I wrote about France's goal of winning double gold at the upcoming Mondial 2012 in Dubai. France swept formation skydiving (FS) competition at the World Meet 2010 in Russia by winning gold medals in all four events (4-way open, 4-way female, 4-way VFS, 8-way FS).

The French delegation will try to defend all four gold medals in Dubai, and they have the additional goal of winning two of the four sets of gold medals with one lineup. That's efficient and saves money - and it is incredibly difficult and has never been done before.

All right, so that's old news and has been covered before. What's new? New is that the situation has changed quite dramatically since that last article was published. And it has not become easier for the French delegation and their high goals. No, in fact it has become even more difficult, if that is possible. I have had a strange feeling about those goals from the beginning. I am a competitor, and I have always set high goals for myself and for my teams. However, this was something new and on a level that has been difficult to comprehend.

In the beginning I felt that the French goal would be difficult to achieve but not impossible. They have Mathieu Bernier who has shown the world that one person can win gold medals in 4-way and in 8-way at the same world championships. So, why not a whole team, especially if France is the reigning world champion in both events?

The strange feeling I have had came from my understanding of formation skydiving competition where it currently stands. I thought—and I still think—that our athletes and the teams have come to an extremely high performance level. They have pushed the limits so far that the competitive skills are too advanced for winning in two events which are so different from each other. There are the 4-way experts of NMP-PCH Hayabusa (Belgium) and Arizona Airspeed (U.S.) who do nothing but 4-way training. Then there are the Golden Knights who do nothing but 8-way training. And then there is France with a 4-way lineup that wants to be better than Hayabusa, Airspeed, and Golden Knights in both events? It just sounded like a miracle to me and gave me that strange feeling of doubt this time, despite Mathieu Bernier's incredible and unique achievement.

There is more to it. I have begun to look at the whole situation from the opposite angle. Belgium can never achieve a complete sweep of formation skydiving competition, as France did in 2010. Hayabusa has realistic chances to win a gold medal in 4-way only. Russia has usually top teams in all three traditional FS events (4-way open, 4-way female, 8-way). However, Russia also competes with the same lineup in 4-way and 8-way and faces the same difficulties as France. Russia also does not have a powerful and well trained female 4-way lineup so far.

How does it look from the U.S. angle? I took some time recently for new thoughts after coming back from the World Cup in the Czech Republic. Here is the conclusion in a nutshell: It's the U.S. delegation with the best chances this year to sweep the traditional FS events, and it would be the second time for the U.S. to make that happen.

DeLand Majik (4-way), Synchronicity (4-way female) and Arizona Airspeed (8-way) combined in 2004 to win all three sets of gold medals and the Patrick de Gayardon Trophy for the most successful nation at a World Championship of Formation Skydiving. The French 4-way open class lineup, Aerokart Deep Blue's 2010 lineup, and the French 8-way team had their share two years ago for the first time in French history. Here's the point: Both delegations had three different lineups for the gold medals—except Mathieu Bernier in 2010.

And here is the 2012 situation. The U.S. has the Golden Knights in 8-way who have beat the French 8-way lineup already last year and have done nothing else but 8-way ever since. Arizona Airspeed never looks at anything but gold medals anyway, and the 2012 lineup has not lost an outdoor competition against any team yet. The female 4-way event seemed to be the weak point for the U.S. delegation so far, as the new French lineup picked up the speed not too far behind the Deep Blue world champions of 2010. The Golden Knights were far behind France when the new 2-year period from world meet to world meet began.

This has changed now after the U.S. Army team outscored the French female 4-way lineup at the World Cup 2012 and only three months before the Mondial 2012 in Dubai. All of a sudden, the U.S. delegation has taken a very strong position and has a much better chance for a sweep than it seemed a few months ago. In fact, I could not blame anybody who put money on the U.S. sweep rather than the French sweep.

The new age sweep would include VFS 4-way, and even that is not impossible for the U.S. delegation. The French Team4speed XP, 2010 world champions, seem to be so far ahead but they are not out of reach for SDC Standard XP, the U.S. team from Chicago with Rook Nelson and his training resources.

The interesting and maybe scary part of the whole story is the fact that either delegation could end up with nothing, which means without a gold medal. This risk seems to be more on the French side now, as the tables have turned within a few months. It's way too late for everybody now to change direction and strategy. The U.S. delegation may have never thought much of a sweep in Dubai, while the French delegation has been preparing to copy the 2010 deal on an even increased level of difficulty. The reality a few months before the real showdown in Dubai is tough for France, while the U.S. teams will travel there with a lot of confidence and a lot of training in each event. It is amazing how quickly the situation can change so dramatically. France owns all four world championship titles in formation skydiving at the moment and could come back with all of them gone to the Unites States. VFS 4-way Team4speed XP could become the French lifesaver, which would still make it a traditional sweep for the U.S. delegation. But then there is Hayabusa, not a dark horse any longer. I am counting the days...