posted Apr 27th, 2025 - The first two confrontations between the U.S. top contenders for the slot as the national team in 4-way Open at the next outdoor world championship are history, and they are now on the road to the USPA Nationals 2025, the qualification event.

It has been a duel between Golden Knights and Arizona Airspeed so far, first at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship, followed by the Shamrock Showdown. SDC Rhythm XP, with the shortest preparation time for the new lineup before last year's national outdoor championship, still have a lot of work ahead to reduce the distance to the two top contenders.

Arizona Airspeed did not have much more time available for their own new lineup, and they had to switch back and forth between different lineups and substitutes. Realistically, it was not a big surprise that the Golden Knights were the winner of the internal U.S. competition, with the current lineup in their third year together. Neither SDC Rhythm XP, nor Arizona Airspeed or Golden Knights were probably giving the French Aethers as much attention as they gave each other. They will not meet the world's current top team next year at the outdoor world championship if they do not win the USPA Nationals in October this year. Main target this year are the USPA Nationals, and only the winner will have the 2026 season to get ready and challenge the Aethers.

Shamrock Showdown 2025			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		17,M,10		20,19,F		18,22,K		N,G,3,16		O,E,P,21		9,L,5		6,13,1		C,J,Q,4		D,8,A,H		12,11,14		Total	Avg
1	Aethers	FR	25		23		21		24		34		32		23		32		29		18		261	26.1
2	Golden Knights	US	19	-2	24		18	-2	24		28	-1	26	-2	20		27	-2	26	-1	15	-2	227	22.7
3	Arizona Airspeed	US	23	-1	21		18		22		27	-2	28	-1	18	-1	24	-4	26		17		224	22.4
4	SDC Rhythm XP	US	20		17	-2	17		16	-2	24	-3	24	-1	19		18	-7	21	-1	15		191	19.1
5	Qatar Cheetahs	QA	17	-2	18		14		18	-2	24		19	-2	15	-1	24		21		12	-1	182	18.2
6	Airbus 4-way Illertissen	DE	15	-4	14	-2	13		16		19	-3	19		15		23		19		12		165	16.5
7	Jen and the Double D's	US	15		13	-1	13		13	-1	18	-1	13		13		18	-2	17		9	-2	142	14.2
8	4Action	US	9	-1	10	-1	8	-1	9		13	-1	10		9		11	-3	12		9		100	10.0

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Golden Knights - Arizona Airspeed - SDC Rhythm XP at the Shamrock Showdown 2025

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The first U.S. showdown took place at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship, which is the national indoor championship at the same time and actually featured the same three U.S. contenders with their full lineups, even though Arizona Airspeed was officially only a guest team.

Airspeed then borrowed Tunnel Vision member Niklas Hemlin for the FAI Indoor World Championship 2025 that new member Alisson de Vargas was not eligible for. The Golden Knights had won the national indoor championship title in February where Airspeed was a guest team.

SDC Rhythm XP were carefully watching the two U.S. contenders at Paraclete XP and a week later at Skydive DeLand to study what needs to be done until the USPA Nationals 2026. The Aethers were also featuring the world's current 4-way top level for them at the same three events between February and April. The same three U.S. teams were back in 4-way action at their first outdoor competition this year, the Shamrock Showdown, where Aethers defined the 4-way standards once again, this time with a historic performance and no point deductions at all.

Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2025			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		10,O,F,7		21,20,3		Q,G,2,5		B,19,P,1		H,9,11		16,14,6		K,E,A,22		J,15,8		4,C,12		17,N,D,M		Total	Avg
G	Aethers Medjay	FR	33	-1	22	-1	32	-1	32		36		27		35		23	-1	27		45	-1	312	31.2
1	Golden Knights	US	31		21	-1	27	-2	31	-1	34		23	-1	30		24		23	-3	40	-1	284	28.4
2	Tunnel Vision	US	30	-1	20	-1	27	-2	27	-1	32		24		31		24		24		38		277	27.7
G	Arizona Airspeed	US	29		21	-1	24	-3	26		32		23		29		24		22	-1	41		271	27.1
G	Qatar Lions	QA	27	-2	20	-1	23	-3	27	-1	27	-2	20	-1	26	-3	20	-2	22		37	-1	249	24.9
3	SDC Rhythm XP	US	26	-3	17	-3	23	-3	26	-1	26	-4	18	-3	29		20	-2	22		37	-1	244	24.4
G	Qatar Cheetahs	QA	25		17	-2	24		24	-1	28		21		29		20	-2	20	-2	35	-1	243	24.3
4	Killers of Hopes and Dreams	US	23	-2	17	-2	24		23	-1	27		19		27	-1	20	-1	22		31	-1	233	23.3
5	XPerimental	US	25		15	-1	23		22		24		18		21	-2	19		19		28	-1	214	21.4
6	Buc-ee's and Boot-ee's	US	22	-2	15		19	-1	22		22	-1	18		22	-1	16	-2	19		22	-3	197	19.7
7	GPTNT	US	18	-1	15	-1	20		19	-1	21	-1	15		19		17		14		20	-1	178	17.8
8	Kirk and the Double D's	US	15	-4	12	-1	20		22		18	-1	15		19		15	-2	14	-2	27		177	17.7

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Golden Knights - Arizona Airspeed - SDC Rhythm XP at the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship 2025

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It is a natural occurrence that indoor scores and averages are significantly higher than outdoor results. Equipment, exits and sub-terminal maneuvers slow down the performances and lower the scores. It could be expected that the same teams would not be as far away from each other at the Shamrock Showdown, compared to the national indoor championship at Paraclete XP.

The Golden Knights won the internal U.S. competition in February 13 points ahead of Arizona Airspeed, 40 points ahead of SDC Rhythm XP. The differences were down to three points (227 - 224) over Airspeed, 36 points over Rhythm, two months later at Skydive DeLand. Once again, none of the U.S. teams could threaten the French 4-way team, while the internal U.S. situation was significantly different.

SDC Rhythm XP hardly got any closer to the U.S. Army team who placed 2nd behind Aethers at the Shamrock Showdown. However, Arizona Airspeed reduced the distance to the Golden Knights to almost nothing, even though the U.S. Army team finished almost an average point ahead of their own 2024 average at the USPA Nationals. The Golden Knights can take the results of the Shamrock Showdown as a reminder that they will be facing tough competition at the national outdoor championship. Arizona Airspeed's new lineup left Skydive DeLand with a lot of confidence and $500 cash for the 3rd place and a $200 skin in Round 9.

USPA Nationals 2024		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	K,P,H,19		C,F,20,N		M,O,L,12		G,6,3		17,7,10		A,21,14		18,9,4		22,15,1		11,13,E		2,16,B		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	35	-1	33		30	-1	24		23	-1	23		23		19		24		24		258	25.8
2	XPG4	31		30		28		20		18	-3	20		22		17		18	-1	21		225	22.5
3	Golden Knights	29	-1	30		29		20		21		18	-3	20		13	-4	18	-3	21		219	21.9
4	SDC Rhythm XP	25	-2	22	-1	25		19		20	-1	18	-1	17	-2	16		17		20	-1	199	19.9
5	RhEvolution XP	19	-3	21	-1	18	-1	16	-1	17		15	-1	17		13		16		15	-1	167	16.7
6	Rough Landing Strips	19		22	-1	19	-1	14	-1	16	-1	16	-1	17		13		15	-1	13	-4	164	16.4
7	Don't Run Into Anything	19	-1	18		16	-2	13	-1	14	-1	14		13		10		14	-1	16	-4	147	14.7
8	SDC Rhetirement Rhedux	18	-1	14	-2	17	-1	11	-2	11		13		12		10		11	-1	13		130	13.0
9	XP Furies	10		11		11		8		9		8		7		6	-1	7	-1	10		87	8.7
10	Perris 4ever	9		9	-1	9		7		7		9		6	-1	8		8		8		80	8.0

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Arizona Airspeed - Golden Knights - SDC Rhythm XP at the USPA Nationals 2024

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