posted Nov 4th, 2021 - The NSL News aftermath of the USPA Nationals 2021 continues with a new NSL Live Talk conversation that was recorded a few days after the completion of the 4-way competition. JaNette Lefkowitz and her baby-daughter Sage were following the other Formation Skydiving events, where father Steve Lefkowitz collected more USPA medals, after the silver with SDC Rhythm XP.

It was the first time in the history of SDC Rhythm XP at USPA Nationals that JaNette and Steve Lefkowitz did not compete together. This means that they attended 15 national championships together, first as a couple in the front piece, later with center work.

The change happened when Andrew Happick and Doug Barron joined the Rhythm lineup in 2016. Steve Lefkowitz moved from point to outside center, JaNette Lefkowutz from outside to inside center. It was the first time that the married couple was separated and not connected in the same piece any longer in freefall.

However, the change of the slots worked out very well for the team. Five years later, and with the same lineup, SDC Rhythm XP won the 4-way Open Class competition at the USPA Nationals 2019 and replaced Arizona Airspeed as the U.S. national team in 4-way Open at the next world meet, the FAI Tanay Mondial 2020

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USPA Nationals 2019			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open Class		7,C,H,P		J,21,20		O,3,11		B,2,K,E		8,Q,10		15,D,F,12		N,L,M,14		6,1,9		A,18,13		G,4,5		17,16,22		Total	Avg
1	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	45	-1	24		27		37		21		25		34		25	-1	26	-1	25	-4	-		289	28.9
2	SDC Rhythm XP	US	41		22		21	-1	33		21		23		27		25		24		25		21	-1	262	26.2
3	Arizona Airspeed	US	40	-1	24		22	-2	32		19	-2	24		29		25		21	-2	26	-1	20	-2	262	26.2
4	Defiance	US	30	-1	21		15	-4	28		16		19		22	-3	21		18	-1	18	-1	-		208	20.8
5	Ranch 2nd Generation	US	26		19		19		24	-2	16	-1	17	-1	24		18	-1	19		19		-		201	20.1
6	Kinetix	AU	26		18		17		22		13	-1	17		18	-1	17		17		17		-		182	18.2
7	Lite XP	US	24	-1	17		17		22		15		17		20	-2	16	-1	14		17		-		179	17.9
8	No Name	US	22	-4	17		14		19	-2	12	-2	13		14	-3	15		14		16		-		156	15.6
9	Aviatrixx	US	21		14		13	-1	18	-1	12	-2	15		17	-1	14	-1	12		14		-		150	15.0
10	Perris Force	US	20		13	-1	14		18		11	-1	11		18	-1	13	-1	12		12	-1	-		142	14.2

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SDC Rhythm XP at the USPA Nationals 2019 - Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/OmniSkore!HD

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JaNette Lefkowitz was still in the lineup that won the USPA gold medals in 2019. However, she had to step back after the national championships and take care of her own complicated pregnancy and the delivery of a healthy baby Sage, who was now peacefully sleeping next to her mother during the NSL Live Talk conversation.

Christy Frikken took the inside center slot for the world meet season, and she was still in the lineup when SDC Rhythm XP competed for the last time with the 2020/2021 lineup. The NSL News reported on September 19th that only Doug Barron will come back next year and re-build a new Rhythm lineup.

SDC Rhythm XP knew that it would be very difficult to defend the U.S. 4-way title this year, as Arizona Airspeed has been in full training with the new lineup since the beginning of the 2020 season, as well. The new Airspeed lineup, with former Ranch 2nd Generation members Joey Marshall and Chris Kuhlmann, won the first duel with SDC Rhythm XP at the Wind Games 2020 by 12 points and maintained exactly the same difference throughout the ten outdoor rounds in Eloy last week.

JaNette Lefkowitz was back one more time in her slot at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2020 before Christy Frikken replaced her until the USPA Nationals 2021.

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USPA Nationals 2021		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	13,5,D		Q,9,4		F,14,C,10		H,L,20,N		18,22,19		11,J,E,8		6,7,K		G,15,12		M,2,21		16,A,P,O		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	22	-2	28	-1	24		30		18	-1	25		26		20		24		35		252	25.2
2	SDC Rhythm XP	26		24	-4	21	-2	27	-1	19		23		26		21		24	-1	29		240	24.0
3	Golden Knights Gold	21		26		20		25	-1	16		23		21		17		16	-1	25	-1	210	21.0
4	The Jets	16	-1	20	-1	18		22		14		17		21		16		19		24		187	18.7
5	Skydive Midwest NEXT	18		21		18		20		14	-1	18		20		14		18		21	-1	182	18.2
6	XPG4	16		19		15	-2	22		13		19		18		14		18		21		175	17.5
7	Elsinore Bullet	16		18	-1	17		20	-1	12	-1	18		18		14		18		22		173	17.3
8	Aviatrixx	13		16		14		12	-3	10	-1	13		13		10	-1	14		16	-1	131	13.1
9	Golden Knights Black	12	-1	12	-3	14		13	-1	11		13		12		10		13	-2	16	-1	126	12.6

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Arizona Airspeed - SDC Rhythm XP at the USPA Nationals 2021 - Video Footage Courtesy of USPA/OmniSkore!HD

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The new Rhythm lineup without JaNette Lefkowitz could not threaten Arizona Airspeed seriously in the three events that both teams participated in before the last duel in Eloy. It seemed to be obvious that Airspeed would be the clear favorite on their home turf at the national championships.

It was all the more almost shocking when SDC Rhythm XP outscored Arizona Airspeed by four points in the first round of the USPA Nationals. The psychology of the situation seemed to play out more to the advantage of the defending champions, who knew that it was their last meet and that they had nothing to lose.

All the pressure was on Arizona Airspeed who had taken the position of the top contender for more than enough reasons. The start into the competition could have been hardly any worse for Airspeed - and not much better for SDC Rhythm XP.

Airspeed recovered quickly though, tied Rhythm after Round 2, took the lead in Round 3 and did not look back after that. Rhythm still won two more rounds and tied Airspeed's highscores twice. It was still not enough to challenge the new national 4-way champions for the top spot. JaNette and Steve Lefkowitz will continue to be engaged with their Rhythm project, while Christy Frikken returns to Southern California. Doug Barron will hold his tryouts for the new lineup soon...