posted Aug 6th, 2019 - The French 4-way and 8-way teams did not add any more rounds at their national championships. The 8-way teams completed the nine rounds that the NSL News covered on August 5th. The 4-way teams were done after Round 8.

The national team in 4-way Women, Aerodyne Cypres Lille-Bondues, were able to maintain the scoring and performance level of the Coupe de France competition at the beginning of July, despite lack of 4-way training. In fact, the 20.4 average is exactly the same, after a reduced total of point deductions (5 - 2).

The highly experienced French 4-way Women world champions were especially able to handle the exits better than the 4-way Open Class team, who don't have much exit training at all. Both French national teams spend the vast majority of their training jumps for 8-way exits and training.

The eight meet videos of both teams are showing that they use standard exits before completing the first formation of each sequence, just as they do it in 8-way training and competition. Aerodyne Cypres Lille-Bondues (4-way Women) launched two of the eight exits with the complete formations, Aerodyne Cypres Maubeuge (4-way Open) only one, the Star in Round 8.

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French Outdoor Nationals 2019		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	14,9,P		K,5,16		D,13,Q,7		1,21,O		22,E,18		N,G,10,B		19,8,17		M,15,11		Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Cypres Lille-Bondues	20	-2	20		25		21		15		23		18		21		163	20.4
2	Aerodyne Cypres Maubeuge	21		19		21		15	-1	16		20		15		18	-1	145	18.1
3	Odin Parachute System	15	-1	15	-1	13	-3	14		14		18		13		15		117	14.6
4	Airbivores Annecy Pamiers	13		16		13		13		9		16		13		15		108	13.5
5	Espoir-Metz-Lille-Bondues	15		14		12		16		11	-1	13		12		14		107	13.4
6	ExponenCiel ASPU Maubeuge	12		9		13		12		10		11	-2	9	-1	10	-1	86	10.8
7	FlyPonots	11		11		12		12		10		11		8		8	-1	83	10.4
8	ViveLaChute - A Bloc !	7		3	-2	9		7		6		6		5		6		49	6.1
9	Last Minute Call	5		4		6		6	-1	6		4	-1	5		4		40	5.0

French national teams in 4-way Women and 4-way Open at the French Nationals 2019

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The lack of 4-way training has a serious impact on both teams, possibly more than expected. The French 4-way Women world champions had finished with a 25.7 average at the FAI World Meet 2018 and were very well trained for 4-way competition exclusively.

Exits and sub-terminal pages are the most important components of 4-way competition for teams on the high-profile and world class level. These two major components can only be practiced with exits from jump planes and with enough altitude. No wind tunnel can simulate the specific exit techniques and the different behavior in sub-terminal air speed.

The same two components don't have much of an impact in 8-way competition, where even the best teams have only a limited repertoire of standard exits and very rarely launch a complete formation. The difference weighs heavily in 4-way competition, where the best teams and 4-way experts launch the complete first formation. They are transitioning to the next formation, while teams with standard exits are still working on building the first formation of the sequence.

The experience on the sub-terminal pages is just as crucial as for the actual exit, as it requires different techniques and priorities. It will be interesting to see how far ahead of the British 4-way Women challenger NFTO the French 4-way Women world champions still are. The British Nationals 2019 are coming up soon.

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Odin Parachute System and Espoir-Metz-Lille-Bondues at the French Nationals 2019

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The Odin Parachte System team are the official French national 4-way champions, as the national teams are not eligible to win. It was only the third outdoor competition for the indoor experts, who are performing on the 26-average level with Arnaud Camproux's daughter Elisa in the lineup.

Loic Maudou was back for the outdoor lineup, and Mathieu Cavallin is a new Odin member. Michel Laynaud, 8-way videographer for the French national team, was filming the Odin Parachute System.

Michel Laynaud was also filming the new French B-Team, Espoir Metz-Lille Bondues. Jessica Thebault continues in the waiting line for a slot in the national teams. She had trained and competed with Nephtys Weembi, the reigning indoor world champions in 4-way Women. She had to sit on the bench at the FAI Indoor World Meet after an injury, and Pamela Lissajoux helped out. Jessica Thebault has been in the French B-Team indoor and outdoor lineups since 2016.

Mathieu Quizy has been Jessica Thebault's B-Team team mate since 2017, and both have spent time together with Gaelle Giesen, who has now made it into the national teams in 4-way Women and 8-way, together with former B-Team members Aurelien Lemaire and Alban Rumolo. Jessica Thebault and Mathieu Quizy are probably in the top spots on the waiting line...