posted Oct 30th, 2014 - The Sun Path Products NSL News recently reported breaking news from France, first the new 8-way lineup on 21 October 2014, then the new lineup for the French 4-way Women team on 26 October 2014.

Last but not least, France also has a new lineup in 4-way Open, and it relates directly to the previous and the new French national teams in all three traditional Formation Skydiving events. The new 4-way Open Class lineup combines members of all three teams who competed for France at the FAI World Championship of Formation Skydiving 2014.

The most outstanding move by national coach Jeremie Rollett is the selection of Laurence Herve for the 4-way Open Class team. She becomes the first female 4-way competitor in the French national 4-way Open Class team. She just won her second gold medal with the French Girls in Prostejov, this time in the active lineup, after missing the Mondial Dubai 2012 due to a broken ankle a few months before the competition.

World Meet 2014		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way AAA	E,3,C,5	F,6,D,21	19,H,2	M,4,1	O,14,A,P	8,J,16	7,11,12	22,20,15	17,G,18	13,B,9	Total	Avg
4	VoltR (FR)	24	26	18	23	26	20	20	13	24	21	215	21.5
5	French Girls (FR)	21	25	22	20	27	21	18	17	19	24	214	21.4

Only Damien Gouriou (26) comes back from the previous Open Class lineup. He has been a member of the national team since the beginning of the 2013 season and attended his first world championship. He (21.5) and Laurence Herve (21.4) competed on almost exactly the same scoring level in Prostejov. Volt'R ended up in 4th place, while the French Girls won gold.

Two members of the previous French 8-way lineup complete the new 4-way team, Charles Rommel (24) and Kevin Mansion (24). They also attended their first world championship in Prostejov and won bronze medals after a jump-off with Russia's Barkli 8-way lineup.

Laurence Herve (27) is actually the oldest and most experienced competitor in the team with her two world meet gold medals.

World Meet 2014		Rd. 1	Rd. 2	Rd. 3	Rd. 4	Rd. 5	Rd. 6	Rd. 7	Rd. 8	Rd. 9	Rd. 10	Rd. 11	T.	Avg
Rank	8-way Open Class	E,3,C,5	F,G,D,21	19,H,2	M,4,1	O,14,A,P	8,J,16	7,11,12	22,20,15	17,G,18	13,B,9	Q,10,N,L	T.	Avg
1	Golden Knights (US)	24	22	15	26	22	21	19	26	21	20	-	216	21.6
2	Barkli (RU)	19	18	13	25	14	16	16	19	18	13	20	191	17.4
3	Venturi (FR)	19	16	14	23	18	13	18	19	15	16	19	190	17.3

It is quite a fresh start for France in 4-way Open with the youngest lineup in history. Laurence Herve and Damien Gouriou have performed well above the 20-average level, while the two 8-way competitors of 2013 and 2014 have to catch up.

Charles Rommel has a 16.1 average at the French Nationals 2012 in his books. Kevin Mansion collected most of his competition experience with the French 8-way team in 2013 and 2014. However, the earlier update from France also mentioned that the 4-way teams have priority with the budget, and the new young team is highly motivated.

The update of the 4-way Open Class lineup completes the French delegation for the next two years in the three traditional events. The Sun Path Products NSL News is now waiting for the VFS 4-way news from Philippe "Le Professeur" Schorno...