posted Jan 7th, 2019 - The U.S. national team in 4-way VFS, SDC Core, has undoubtedly been the world's dominating team in this event after winning the second consecutive set of FAI outdoor gold medals for the U.S. delegation in Australia, as the NSL News pointed out in the VFS update on 18 December 2018.

Team4speed from France had dominated the early days of VFS 4-way competition and won the first outdoor gold medals for France in 2010, 2012 and 2014. Team4speed retired after winning the third world championship title in Prostejov 2014, and the new French national team, Transfert, finished only in 3rd place at the FAI World Meet 2016, where SDC Core took over the VFS reigns.

France did not even send a 4-way VFS team to Australia last year and competed only in 4-way Open and 4-way Women of the Formation Skydiving competition. SDC Core won once again without any serious competition.

SDC Core's dominating position in 4-way VFS is still not really secure. French teams neither competed in 8-way nor in 4-way VFS in Australia, while they have still had a very strong presence at other events, especially at indoor competition. The upcoming indoor winter season, peaking at the FAI Indoor World Meet 2019 at Weembi Lille in April, will probably present a very different picture of the French Formation Skydiving delegation.

FAI World Meet 2018			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way VFS		21,L,B,G	22,18,17	19,7,O	J,16,12	10,A,D,15	Q,M,F,C,N	H,20,P,13	6,14,11	E,2,5	4,1,3	Total	Avg
1	SDC Core	US	26	26	20	27	17	19	19	23	21	19	217	21.7
2	Evolution	CA	22	17	15	23	15	15	13	20	19	17	176	17.6
3	Focus	AU	22	20	13	20	12	16	14	17	18	20	172	17.2
4	Vertical Flystation	RU	18	14	9	20	13	7	8	16	18	18	141	14.1
5	Blue Pelican	NO	17	13	13	15	10	11	13	15	16	13	136	13.6
6	Omni 99	UK	18	10	11	15	10	11	9	11	14	11	120	12.0
7	Kwansta Kwattro	SE	12	11	7	14	8	10	5	6	11	11	95	9.5
8	Wait For It	FI	7	5	4	5	2	2	4	5	8	7	49	4.9

SDC Core has won all indoor and outdoor events since 2015, with one exception though, which is not too long ago.

France had sent a 4-way VFS team to the FAI Indoor World Meet 2017 in Montreal, which actually won the gold medals by six points over SDC Core. The 31.5 winning average was the highest result in the history of 4-way VFS.

The French VFS lineup in Montreal 2017 was a combination of two Team4speed world champions of 2010, 2012 and 2014 (Raphael Coudray, Frederic Nenet) and two members of the national team of 2016, Transfert (Edouard Henry, Mickael Melo). SDC Core competed with the same lineup in Montreal that won the outdoor gold medals a year later in Australia.

France neither had a 4-way VFS team at the outdoor world meet in Australia nor at the indoor world cup in Bahrain a few weeks later, where SDC Core won once again without any serious opposition. However, SDC Core know the whole 4-way VFS community very well, and they are aware of the French situation at any time. The competition at the next major indoor event could be very different and more similar to the last indoor world meet in Montreal.

FAI Indoor World Meet 2017			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way VFS		8,17,F	9,A,16	18,G,12	21,O,N,K	P,13,B,C	2,E,22	3,H,14	6,J,Q,7	1,15,20	D,M,10,19	Total	Avg
1	VFS 4	FR	38	31	30(-2)	28(-1)	25(-3)	53(-6)	32(-1)	31(-1)	24(-1)	23	315	31.5
2	SDC Core	US	32(-3)	34	22(-7)	32(-2)	29	56(-3)	31	26(-4)	24	23(-2)	309	30.9
3	Flyspot Definition	PL	28	26	21	25(-1)	24(-1)	43(-3)	20(-2)	22(-1)	19	17(-2)	245	24.5
4	Team Toronto	CA	27	19(-2)	19(-3)	16(-6)	16(-4)	36(-2)	21	19(-2)	19	16(-1)	208	20.8
5	Kwansta Kwattro	SE	16(-2)	16	13(-1)	19	13(-2)	23(-3)	18	16	14	13(-1)	161	16.1
6	Siriusly, Wait for It	FI	14	14(-1)	10(-1)	8(-4)	13	26	11	13(-1)	9	11(-1)	129	12.9

French national 4-way VFS indoor team and SDC Core at the FAI Indoor World Meet 2017

Weembi Lille in France is hosting the next indoor world meet, and the French delegation will most likely include a 4-way VFS team on home turf. It would be no surprise if the lineup is the same as in Montreal 2017.

In fact, the third indoor world meet could generate the third set of FAI indoor gold medals for France in VFS 4-way. Transfert won at the Hurricane Factory in 2015 where SDC Core did not compete, and the Team4speed/Transfert combination followed up with gold in Montreal 2017.

The French indoor delegation at Weembi Lille in April also has the potential for the first Formation Skydiving Indoor Sweep in history, after the last FS Outdoor Sweep in Menzelinsk 2010 with gold medals in all four FS events (4-way Open - 4-way Women - 4-way VFS - 8-way Open). NMP PCH HayaBusa avoided the first French FS Indoor Sweep in Montreal 2017 with the gold medals in 4-way Open, barely fending off the Weembi High Rollers challenge. France won the indoor gold medals in 4-way VFS, 4-way Women and 4-way Junior.

The French national indoor team in 4-way Open, Weembi Mix, has become even stronger and defeated HayaBusa at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2018. The three other French national indoor teams will just be as ready to defend the French gold medals of 2017, and France will also be a top contender in indoor 8-way, a guest event at the indoor world meet this year. Host and Weembi Mix member Julien Degen was a part of the French FS Outdoor Sweep in Menzelinsk 2010, and he has now a chance to make history once again...