posted Jul 8th, 2026 - VTSD/Carolina Turbo XP/SDC Rhythm XP were not the only civilian U.S. college team whose members began competing while attending a university and then dedicated themselves to 4-way formation skydiving. Several years earlier, another collegiate project had followed a similar path and came even closer to reaching the very top of the sport: DeLand Genesis/PD Blue.

Original team members Ian Bobo, Kyle Collins, Shannon Pilcher, David van Greuningen and Eric Taylor first connected through the Georgia Tech University Sport Parachute Club at Freefall Ranch in Warm Springs, Georgia, in 1990. It was there that Shannon Pilcher, Ian Bobo and Kyle Collins made their first skydives. They later met David van Greuningen and team videographer Eric Taylor through classes and campus life at Georgia Tech, forming the nucleus of what would become one of the most successful teams in U.S. 4-way history.

The future Genesis members started their competitive careers even earlier and at younger ages than the VTSD lineup. Competing as "Laminar Flow," they won their first major event, the USPA Collegiate Championship, in 1992 and successfully defended the title the following year. The team was preparing for the 1994 Collegiate Championships after Shannon Pilcher had graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Building Construction when he suffered a serious injury shortly before the competition. David van Greuningen moved into the lineup for both the USPA Collegiates and the USPA Nationals. One year later, Genesis was officially founded with the goal of competing at the USPA Nationals 1995 with the original lineup.

USPA Nationals 1998		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open	5,10,11	12,C,6	N,19,4	F,22,20	J,17,G,A	23,13,21	E,7,B,P	1,14,3	15,2,8	L,M,O,K,Q	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	16	19	20	17	28	17	32	19	16	29	213	21.3
2	Space Center FX	14	13	17	17	24	17	31	15	17	27	192	19.2
3	DeLand Genesis	9	15	17	14	19	15	24	15	11	23	162	16.2
4	Elsinore Storm	11	16	14	12	18	13	24	15	13	21	157	15.7
5	Arizona Edge	9	12	16	14	18	13	22	14	12	20	150	15.0
6	Ranch Air Traffic	12	11	16	12	18	11	23	12	12	21	148	14.8
7	Golden Knights IV	11	12	14	12	15	11	22	14	11	20	142	14.2
8	Perris Cruis-O-Matic	10	11	15	13	17	11	17	11	11	18	134	13.4
9	Entity	6	12	11	11	13	11	22	13	11	19	129	12.9
10	Space Center FX 2	10	9	10	12	13	12	20	8	12	20	126	12.6
10	Frost	11	11	14	12	15	9	19	11	9	15	126	12.6
12	TETRAD	9	9	12	12	13	8	17	12	11	17	120	12.0
13	Sebastian 4NB	10	9	12	12	12	10	16	11	7	16	115	11.5
14	Terminal Ecstacy	10	11	6	11	13	8	16	11	10	16	112	11.2
15	Ranch Equinox	9	10	10	9	15	8	17	9	9	14	110	11.0
16	Optik Nerve	9	11	9	9	14	9	17	11	9	11	109	10.9
17	Lebanon Mass Transit	2	11	10	9	10	10	15	9	9	13	98	9.8
18	Houston Pyro4ic	4	10	9	9	11	11	14	9	5	13	95	9.5
18	Elsinore High Pressure	9	8	10	9	8	7	15	9	8	12	95	9.5
20	Perris Valley Eclipse	7	9	9	9	9	8	14	9	7	11	92	9.2
21	Incognito	10	9	13	11	13	6	17	7	-	-	86	10.8
22	Mr. Pink	7	8	8	5	10	7	13	7	7	10	82	8.2
23	Flat Feet Team	9	9	7	7	8	6	15	9	3	8	81	8.1
24	Moe-Bo-Jay Airspeed	6	9	9	3	6	5	11	7	7	4	67	6.7
25	Sublime	3	8	9	5	11	5	15	8	-	-	64	8.0

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DeLand Genesis at the Florida Skydiving League in 1998

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The USPA Nationals 1995 took place at Skydive DeLand, and the Genesis members immediately liked the place. Unfortunately, Shannon Pilcher's bad luck continued. He suffered another injury, this time in the opening round of the competition. Once again, however, the setback did not deter the five friends and teammates from pursuing their dream. Instead, they made plans to relocate to DeLand, a move they completed in 1997.

The decision paid off quickly. After approximately 250 training jumps in 1997 and another 400 in 1998 at Skydive DeLand, Genesis earned the bronze medals at the USPA Nationals 1998. Like VTSD years later in their own region, Genesis benefited from regular competition in the Florida Skydiving League, where frequent meets provided valuable experience while also giving them opportunities to compete against—and learn from—visiting world-class teams from Europe.

By the time of the USPA Nationals 2000, Genesis had developed into one of the three leading U.S. 4-way teams. Florida rival Space Center FX and Airspeed Vertical shared the same objective: winning the national title and earning the opportunity to represent the United States in the 4-way Open Class at the 2001 FAI World Championship in Spain. Skydive Perris hosted the 2000 Nationals, which effectively became a preview of the upcoming world championship. The national teams from France, Norway and Italy entered the competition as guest participants, while Airspeed Vertical emerged as the winner of the international showdown.

USPA Nationals 2000			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		E,5,19	P,21,15	7,24,13	F,23,J,17	1,22,12	D,G,M,11	20,B,4	8,H,18	16,14,A	K,L,C,Q,O	Total	Avg
1	Airspeed Vertical	US	19	20	21	24	17	23	21	18	18	32	213	21.3
G	Perris FR Maubeuge	FR	21	22	21	22	17	24	17	17	18	29	208	20.8
3	FX	US	20	20	20	23	16	24	19	19	13	33	207	20.7
3	DeLand PD Blue	US	19	19	19	22	16	24	19	19	19	31	207	20.7
G	DeLand Norgies	NO	19	19	19	24	17	23	19	17	17	33	207	20.7
6	Airspeed Zulu	US	19	18	19	23	16	24	17	16	16	31	199	19.9
7	Golden Knights Gold	US	19	19	20	20	13	24	18	16	18	31	198	19.8
8	Elsinore Matrix	US	15	14	15	19	14	19	15	14	15	27	167	16.7
G	Skydive Udine Sinapsi	IT	17	17	17	14	15	15	12	14	14	21	156	15.6
10	Perris Energy	US	14	14	15	16	13	17	13	12	13	22	149	14.9
11	GKRC	US	10	12	9	9	10	13	11	9	10	13	106	10.6

Genesis, now competing as PD Blue with a full-time 4-way training and competition schedule, shared second place with Space Center FX, with both teams finishing only six points behind U.S. champion Airspeed Vertical (213–207). Airspeed Vertical then traveled to Spain, where the U.S. team defeated France's Maubeuge once again, this time by the narrowest of margins, 214–212, to claim the FAI World Championship title.

Ian Bobo, Kyle Collins, Shannon Pilcher and David van Greuningen continued together for another season, now with Rob Harrick on camera, before stepping away from full-time training and competition. Their competitive careers, however, were far from over. The original lineup reunited for the Shamrock Showdown 2004, where they competed against the new DeLand Majik team on its way to the FAI World Championship title later that year in Croatia. Original team videographer Eric Taylor also returned for the 2004 reunion.

The Genesis legacy continued through its individual members. Shannon Pilcher and Ian Bobo joined DeLand Fire and earned their own FAI 4-way world championship gold medals in Gera 2006, together with Natasha Montgomery and Gary Smith, with Jonathan Tagle on camera. The original Genesis team reunited one final time at the Shamrock Showdown 2010, with Canadian Evolution member Martin LeMay filling the slot for David van Greuningen. Eric Taylor was once again behind the camera, completing the team's final reunion appearance.

Shamrock Showdown 2004			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		F,K,17,7	D,P,12,9	H,B,M,4	15,2,13	J,C,16,1	21,22,O	20,18,3	8,14,E	19,10,11	Q,6,L,G	Total	Avg
1	DeLand Majik	US	25	25	25	18	23	20	17	19	17	24	213	21.3
2	Sinapsi PD	IT	26	22	26	17	19	20	15	18	16	25	204	20.4
3	Genesis	US	23	21	24	15	19	17	15	18	17	21	190	19.0
4	Sebastian Teiwaz AAA	US	20	17	19	13	16	14	12	14	11	18	154	15.4
4	Danez	DK	19	17	19	13	16	14	12	13	14	17	154	15.4
6	DeLand Mojo	US	16	14	17	11	15	13	9	13	11	15	134	13.4
7	Optic Kurves	US	14	15	16	12	15	13	6	13	9	16	129	12.9
8	V2	UK	14	15	16	10	14	11	-	-	-	-	80	13.3
9	42	SE	14	13	17	11	12	12	-	-	-	-	79	13.2
10	4 Motion	UK	12	11	9	9	7	7	-	-	-	-	55	9.2