posted Feb 17th, 2016 - The previews of the World Challenge 2016 introduced many of the teams who will compete in Bedford this year. The Sun Path Products NSL News also mentioned on February 10th that SDC Rhythm XP is one of the teams who attend the three meets of the annual 4-way Spring Tour (Raeford - DeLand - Bedford).

The Shamrock Showdown at Skydive DeLand has been the only major outdoor competition at this time of the year, after Skydive Arizona decided to discontinue the Valentine's Meet. The event is coming up soon (March 18 - 20) and will be SDC Rhythm XP's second stop after the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2016.

The visit in DeLand will be special this year since it will bring together Arizona Airspeed and SDC Rhythm XP both with their new lineups.

DeLand, March 6th, 2015			1	2	3	4	5	6	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		N,2,13	16,O,E,10	D,19,11	C,8,M,9	F,20,P,6	A,7,B,G	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	22	25	23	32	28	37	167	27.8
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	19	23	20	28	25	32	147	24.5
3	Golden Knights	US	19	22	18	25	24	32	140	23.3
4	Carolina Turbo XP	US	19	16	19	26	23	29	132	22.0
5	Black Cat	RU	16	19	18	25	22	31	131	21.8
6	Teiwaz	US	14	16	15	16	18	22	101	16.8
7	Dubai Asaar Ladies	AE	11	13	14	18	16	20	92	15.3
8	Dubai Asaar Black	AE	12	15	12	13	15	19	86	14.3

Airspeed and Rhythm have had their first annual confrontation at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championships since 2011, and they also traveled together to Bedford (2010, 2011, 2012) and DeLand (2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015) quite a few times. Airspeed had won all World Challenges between 2006 and 2009 and lost the first one when Rhythm traveled to Bedford for the first time. The French national team won the 2010 event before NMP PCH Hayabusa took over between 2011 and 2015.

SDC Rhythm XP visited Bedford one more time in 2013 and will be back this year, while Arizona Airspeed has not traveled to Bedford again to attend the unofficial indoor world championships.

The U.S. national 4-way team had a good reason to skip the early indoor meets this year, including the Wind Games 2016. The main Airspeed focus is on outdoor competition, and the tunnel events are missing the most important part of a 4-way competition jump: exit and sub-terminal page. Airspeed wants to win the gold medals at the Mondial 2016 and uses all resources and time to make that happen.

Shamrock Showdown 2011			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		N,H,3,1	J,4,C,13	7,17,19	B,20,15	12,22,M	F,18,2	E,16,9	G,8,21	P,A,11,14	10,Q,D,L	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	25	25	25	24	20	25	30	22	24	29	249	24.9
2	Aerodyne Aerokart	FR	23	24	23	24	19	23	29	23	24	24	236	23.6
3	NMP PCH Hayabusa	BE	21	23	22	23	19	21	28	20	22	29	228	22.8
4	Paraclete XP4	US	18	21	20	19	16	20	24	18	23	20	199	19.9
5	DeLand Norgies	NO	21	19	20	20	15	18	25	19	20	21	198	19.8
6	SDC Rhythm XP	US	18	19	20	21	15	18	24	19	20	23	197	19.7

It will be the first time this year that Arizona Airspeed misses the Paraclete XP Indoor Championships, where SDC Rhythm XP will now have a realistic chance to compete for the top spot in Raeford. However, the first 2016 showdown between the two best U.S. teams will take place two weeks later in DeLand at the Shamrock Showdown 2016.

The event will not only bring Airspeed and Rhythm together. Both teams will also meet some of the other best 4-way teams in the world, including Black Cat from Russia, the French national 4-way team FLY-IN and Satori XL. The scores in March will provide the first insights of the race to the world meet medals at Skydive Chicago in September this year.

The Shamrock Showdown will feature Airspeed's new lineup in action for the first time, while Rhythm's new lineup competes at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship, as well, before going back south to Sebastian for more training, and to the outdoor competition in DeLand.