posted Feb 20th, 2026 - The NSL News update on February 15th reported on the outdoor training camp of the French national 4-way Open Class team at Skydive DeLand. A follow-up story on February 17th featured an NSL Live Talk with the full lineup and national coach Mathieu Bernier.

During the conversation, both the Aethers and their coach confirmed that they will also compete in 8-way at the FAI Indoor World Cup in April. The announcement came as a surprise, as the Aethers are fully committed to their primary goal of winning the outdoor world championship in October this year. However, they have demonstrated their ability to transition successfully between indoor and outdoor training and competition, as their recent performance at the Wind Games once again confirmed.

The Aethers enter the competition at Weembi Lille in April as the top contenders for the FAI gold medals in 4-way Open, where they will face the same strong opponents they met at the Wind Games. NMP PCH HayaBusa and the Golden Knights are expected to focus exclusively on the 4-way event, while the Aethers will take on double duty in both 4-way and 8-way, as confirmed in DeLand.

Balancing both disciplines will be a significant test of their 4-way strength. At the same time, they are likely to pursue equally ambitious goals in 8-way. Previous updates highlighted how national coach Mathieu Bernier employed a similar strategy at the outdoor world championship in Tanay 2021, where the French 4-way team and the 8-way lineup each secured second place, while the Aethers finished fourth in the overall medal standings.

FAI Indoor World Championship 2025			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Combined Top 10		D,4,17		C,22,10		5,P,Q,18		1,M,J,O		16,6,19		H,8,21		12,13,A		L,G,K,9		15,F,7		E,2,N,B		Total	Avg
1	Aethers Medjay	FR	32		23	-1	35		41		28		27		29		45		32		37	-2	329	32.9
2	Arizona Airspeed	US	27	-2	24		31		34		26		26	-1	27		49		34		36		314	31.4
3	NMP PCH HayaBusa	BE	29	-1	22	-2	33		40	-1	24	-3	23	-4	26		43	-4	28	-3	38	-3	306	30.6
4	China	CN	28	-1	21	-2	29	-2	38	-3	24	-3	26	-1	24	-2	39	-6	27	-4	36	-1	292	29.2
5	Skywalkers Junior	CZ	28		22	-2	30		39		25		23	-4	25		38	-2	27	-3	33		290	29.0
6	Nephtys	FR	28		23		29	-2	36		25		24		24	-2	39		31	-2	30	-2	289	28.9
7	XPG4	US	24		19	-1	24	-3	35	-1	23		22		21	-1	38		24	-2	31	-1	261	26.1
7	NFTO	UK	24	-1	22		26	-1	28	-4	22	-1	22		22	-1	36		29		30		261	26.1
7	Fly X Amnesya	IT	26		19		25	-2	32	-1	23		22	-2	23		32	-5	27	-4	32		261	26.1
10	Qatar Lions	QA	26	-1	19	-3	28	-1	31	-5	24		21	-2	22	-1	34		24	-4	31		260	26.0

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Aethers - Nephtys at the FAI Indoor World Championship 2025

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Mathieu Bernier is once again applying the same strategy, but this time he begins from a significantly stronger position at Weembi Lille. His 4-way Open Class team is widely considered the favorite for gold, while the 4-way Women team, Nephtys, are strong contenders for at least a medal position. In addition, the double-duty 8-way combination demonstrated in Tanay 2020 highlighted just how formidable the French 8-way teams can be for the reigning U.S. world champions.

France’s strong prospects for collecting Indoor World Cup medals are not based solely on the Aethers’ performance in 4-way Open. The second half of the 8-way lineup is also eligible to compete in 4-way Women, and Nephtys have already proven their indoor strength at the FAI Indoor World Championship 2025, where they secured second place with a 28.9 average—just three points behind China.

Nephtys return to the 4-way Women event with exactly the same lineup—Clementine Le Bohec, Pamela Lissajoux, Marie Pineau, and Elise Poindron—that earned FAI silver medals in April last year. This lineup differs from the one that competed at outdoor events last season, including the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2025, where Pamela Lissajoux, Marie Pineau, Gaelle Giesen, and Alexandra Petitjean claimed gold for France, with Godeleine de Saint Just on camera. Pamela Lissajoux and Marie Pineau continue to anchor Nephtys both indoors and outdoors.

FAI Outdoor World Cup 2025			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Women		B,Q,19,F		G,13,K,A		12,7,8		16,E,6		1,J,9		10,15,21		5,18,L		M,20,11		C,17,2		22,O,P,3		Total	Avg
1	Nephtys Maubeuge	FR	28		27		17		19	-1	24		17		19		19		19		19		208	20.8
2	Thyra	NO	16	-3	17		13		14		16		10	-1	11	-1	12		14		14		137	13.7
3	XP Angels	US	9	-7	10	-3	9	-2	11		14		9		9		12		12		13		108	10.8
4	Perris 4ever	US	13		11		8	-1	9		11		8		8	-1	10		10		11		99	9.9
5	Funky Falcon	NL	11	-2	11	-1	7		9		14		8		8		10		9		11		98	9.8

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France 4-way Women at the FAI Outdoor World Cup 2025

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Pamela Lissajoux and Clementine Le Bohec have been teammates before, performing and scoring at a level comparable to last year’s indoor champions from China at Paraclete XP. In fact, the French 4-way Women lineup of 2018 (Pamela Lissajoux, Clementine Le Bohec, Christine Malnis, Sophia Pecout) set a historic benchmark with a 32.3 average at the FAI European Indoor Championship 2018 — still the highest average ever recorded in 4-way Women competition.

By comparison, even last year’s Chinese indoor winners posted a lower team record average of 30.5 on home turf at the FAI Indoor World Cup 2024. Mathieu Bernier clearly has a 4-way Women lineup for the upcoming Indoor World Cup on French home soil at Weembi Lille that possesses more than enough potential to secure a second set of gold medals for France.

The remaining question is how effectively the two French 4-way teams can transfer their 4-way expertise into indoor 8-way competition, where the level of opposition will be just as strong as in 4-way Open and 4-way Women. Two additional French 8-way teams (Nova and D'Arc8) will join forces with the merged national 4-way lineups, forming a powerful combined effort to challenge the United States for the 8-way title — and potentially complete a historic French FS Indoor sweep.

Such a sweep has never occurred in the history of indoor competition. In 2019, Belgium (NMP PCH HayaBusa – 4-way Open), France (Nephtys – 4-way Women), and the United States (XP8 – 8-way) split the three gold medals. In 2025, France (Aethers – 4-way Open), China (4-way Women), and the United States (XP8 – 8-way) again shared the titles. The U.S. delegation for the upcoming Indoor World Cup will begin demonstrating its strength tomorrow at Paraclete XP.