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It was a duel for the 1st place at the Summer Classic, while they were facing the French Aethers at Skydive DeLand, who traveled from North Carolina to Florida after winning the gold medals at the FAI Indoor World Championship 2025. Neither Golden Knights nor Arizona Airspeed could get anywhere close to the French indoor world champions in April. Only the Golden Knights managed to win one round and tie another one.
It was not only the 34-point difference between Aethers and Golden Knights after Round 10 that was showing how dominating the French team is in 4-way competition at the moment. Most impressive was the way how Aethers defined new 4-way standards with a historic performance that featured no point deductions at all. The Golden Knights collected a total of 12 penalties at Skydive DeLand, and Arizona Airspeed lost nine points in the ten completed rounds.
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 |
There is no red mark for a point deduction at all on the leaderboard for Golden Knights and Arizona Airspeed between Round 1 and Round 7, and Airspeed even lasted for another round. The Golden Knights lost their first two points in Round 8, and Arizona Airspeed had their biggest damage in Round 9 with the exit funnel and their first two point deductions.
The last three rounds on the second day of the Summer Classic had the biggest impact on the competition between the two strongest U.S. teams. Arizona Airspeed first began to catch up in the first round of the second day, while the Golden Knights had their first two point deductions. It was the first round that Airspeed won, and the difference was down to five points, after a 3-point finish at the Shamrock Showdown. Then came the Airspeed disaster in Round 9 and another penalty for the Golden Knights.
Paraclete XP Summer Classic 2025 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Total | Avg | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rank | AAA Class | 3,8,7 | H,21,2 | 1,L,P,6 | 17,9,10 | F,13,1 | 12,J,D,22 | 20,16,19 | K,M,15,0 | 5,18,C | 4,14,B | Total | Avg | ||||||||||
1 | Golden Knights | 19 | 22 | 24 | 23 | 25 | 19 | 20 | 26 | -2 | 22 | -1 | 21 | 221 | 22.1 | ||||||||
2 | Arizona Airspeed | 19 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 22 | 19 | 17 | 28 | 13 | -2 | 19 | 205 | 20.5 | |||||||||
3 | Platinum XP | 10 | 12 | 11 | 12 | -1 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 13 | 11 | 10 | -1 | 110 | 11.0 | ||||||||
4 | XP Angels | 10 | 11 | -3 | 13 | 11 | -1 | 13 | -1 | 1 | 9 | -2 | 12 | -2 | 8 | 11 | 99 | 9.9 |
Kirk Verner was a member of the original Airspeed 4-way lineup and won FAI world championship gold twice in 1995 and 1997. Arizona Airspeed's first 4-way lineup (Kirk Verner, Jack Jefferies, Mark Kirkby, Dan BC, John Lemming on camera) was formed in the same year when Brian Krause made his first jump.
Kirk Verner followed up with 8-way gold medals in 1999 and 2004, while Brian Krause won his first 8-way world championship title with the Golden Knights in Dubai 2012. Eventually, they joined forces in 8-way with XP8, after Brian Krause had retired from the U.S. Army. Together they won more 8-way gold medals, first at the FAI Tanay Mondial in August 2021, then again in Eloy 2022. It was the XP8 end for Brian Krause, and Kirk Verner added another 8-way gold medal in Crystal Coast 2024. He is currently recruiting the new XP8 lineup for the next world championship. This time, they were sitting in the judging room together for the Summer Classic 2025.