posted Oct 6th, 2026 - SDC Rhythm XP member Doug Barron was recruited as one of the latest members of Paraclete XP’s current 8-way lineup. He joined the team together with Matt Davidson at the beginning of the 2026 season, as the NSL News reported on January 15th. The two highly experienced 4-way and 8-way competitors replaced Jill Stephenson and Ian Pedowitz following the 8-way competition at Weembinamic 2025.

The new 2025 lineup had gone through several changes following the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2024 before the three 8-way world champions—Jeana Billings, Jennifer Davidson, and Kirk Verner—eventually won the USPA Nationals 2025 with five new members: Jill Stephenson, Ian Pedowitz, James Hall, Carl Kallgren IV, and Brandon Kashani, along with Kevin Penn on XP8 camera.

However, the final change at the end of the year, ahead of the 2026 season and with the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026 as its main objective, was intended to make the lineup even stronger. Jill Stephenson and Ian Pedowitz moved to the two official alternate slots for the world meet year. The new XP8 lineup went on to win both national championships this year—the Paraclete XP Indoor Championship and USPA Nationals—while finishing second at the two international events, the Air World Championship and FAI Indoor World Cup.

USPA Nationals 2026		1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open	11,6,14		E,8,9		7,N,D,17		J,20,K,G		2,5,Q		L,M,15,F		1,12,P		B,4,A,18		13,O,C,21		19,3,22		Total	Avg
1	Paraclete XP8	17	-1	17		19		17	-1	16	-2	24		15	-6	22		17		18	-1	182	18.2
2	Arizona Airspeed	12	-1	12	-1	15		16		11	-2	15	-1	12	-3	18	-1	14	-1	14	-1	139	13.9
3	Elsinore No Guts No Gloryhole	12	-1	11	-1	12	-1	13		11		15		12	-1	15		12		12		125	12.5
4	AZ Mandatory Fun!	10		9		10		12		10		11	-2	12		12		9		10	-1	105	10.5
5	Spaceland 8	9		10		10		9	-1	9	-1	11		13		10		8	-2	9	-1	98	9.8
5	Prison Yard	9	-1	9		9	-1	7	-4	9	-1	11	-1	11		13		9		11		98	9.8
7	SDC Rh8ders	9		8	-1	10		8		8		5	-4	9		9	-1	8		9	-1	83	8.3
8	Perris Byte	9		5	-2	7		5	-2	4	-2	8		8	-1	8	-1	7	-1	5	-2	66	6.6

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Paraclete XP8 at the USPA Nationals 2026

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However, neither Russia’s 8-way team in Abu Dhabi nor the World Cup winners from France have registered an 8-way team for the upcoming outdoor world championship.

Meanwhile, the Qatar Falcons appear to have emerged as a serious gold medal contender and a potential challenger to the U.S. 8-way team.

That was the situation following the German Outdoor Nationals at the end of August, where the Qatar Falcons posted a 20.0 average as a guest team, and the conclusion of the USPA Nationals, which XP8 won with an 18.2 average.

The situation has become even more challenging for Paraclete XP8 after team captain Kirk Verner recently confirmed that Doug Barron will not be available for the remainder of the team’s 8-way training ahead of the FAI Outdoor World Championship 2026 or for the competition itself.

FAI Tanay Mondial 2020			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		Total	Avg
Rank	8-way Open		O,19,Q,5		17,B,E,P		H,15,12		M,N,7,F		K,L,C,4		J,18,16		1,9,A		Total	Avg
1	Airspeed XP8	US	20		23		22	-1	23		31	-1	23		24		166	23.7
2	France National 8-way	FR	20		23		25		24		26	-1	25	-1	22	-1	165	23.6
3	Tanay 8	RU	18		21	-1	20		23		26		23		22		153	21.9
4	Qatar Falcons	QA	17		17		19		18		22		19	-1	19		131	18.7
5	Kazakhstan	KZ	5		9		6	-2	10		7	-1	12	-1	12		61	8.7
6	Belarus	BY	4	-1	6		4	-2	5	-2	7		8	-1	2	-1	36	5.1

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Niklas Hemlin with Airspeed XP8 at Tanay 2021

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Fortunately, Paraclete’s XP8 alumni community includes more than enough world-champion competitors to fill a second lineup. It did not take long for XP8 to find a more than adequate substitute, as alternates Jill Stephenson and Ian Pedowitz were unable to step in for this emergency situation, while there was still enough time to add valuable world-championship experience to the lineup.

Niklas Hemlin quickly agreed to fill the open slot, even though he already has a busy schedule as the Golden Knights coach and is pursuing FAI 4-way gold with them at the same event. At FAI competitions, the 4-way and 8-way events are not separated as they are at the USPA Nationals. Niklas Hemlin could compete with XP8 in the morning and then be called into 4-way action with the Golden Knights in the afternoon, or vice versa.

Niklas Hemlin is a three-time and reigning 4-way world champion (2012, 2022, 2024) with Arizona Airspeed. He also has more than enough 8-way experience to make XP8 even stronger, despite the limited training time available before the big event. He won his FAI 8-way gold medal with the Airspeed XP8 lineup at Tanay 2021. Jeana Billings and Kirk Verner were his teammates in Russia, where they carried a one-point advantage over France after Round 7 all the way to the finish. That 2021 lineup had considerably more training time, as Arizona Airspeed did not compete at the event. SDC Rhythm XP, with Doug Barron, represented the United States at Tanay 2021 and won the FAI silver medals. Niklas Hemlin now steps in for Doug Barron, and XP8 can probably still expect an 8-way battle with the Qatar Falcons in Eloy.

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