posted Mar 15th, 2016 - The preparations for the Shamrock Showdown 2016 are in full swing at Skydive DeLand. The French FLY-IN Girls are one of the teams who arrived early for a short training camp before the meet. The reigning French world champions in 4-way Women are also staying another week after the competition for additional training.

The French FLY-IN Girls scheduled the Shamrock Showdown 2016 in the team calendar to meet the Golden Knights for the second time at an outdoor competition with their new lineup. Pamela Lissajoux became the new member after the FAI World Cup 2015 and competed with the team for the first time at the 1st FAI World Indoor Skydiving Championships.

Both teams then competed again at the Clash of Champions 2015 and the World Air Games 2015, where the new French national lineup came dangerously close to the Golden Knights. The Shamrock Showdown 2016 was supposed to be the next showdown until the U.S. Army team had to cancel due to an injury.

The absence of the Golden Knights does not seem to bother the French FLY-IN Girls too much. They are looking forward to the battle with the other world class AAA Class teams in DeLand. Arizona Airspeed, SDC Rhythm XP, Black Cat, Qatar Tigers and Satori XL will offer more than enough competition on the world's highest 4-way level.

The French national teams in 4-way Women used to visit DeLand for earlier Shamrock Showdowns and must have great memories. The original Aerokart Deep Blue lineup competed at the Shamrock Showdown in 2009 and 2010 before winning the gold medals in

Menzelinsk 2010.

The Deep Blue Defenders, still with Sophie Boulogne and Amelie Tirman (Perrine Sanchez, Laurence Herve), came back to DeLand in 2011 and won the next gold medals for France at the Mondial Dubai 2012.

This year's visit and a good performance might bring back gold medal memories and boost the confidence level.

Shamrock Showdown 2010			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		12,2,B	E,K,M,H,11	L,3,22	C,4,18	13,D,J,1	20,16,17	Q,14,8	O,F,6,10	21,G,9	P,19,5	Total	Avg
1	Aerodyne Aerokart	FR	21	32	21	19	26	21	22	26	29	27	244	24.4
2	NMP PCH Hayabusa	BE	20	33	17	22	23	19	19	22	26	22	223	22.3
3	Perris Fury	US	19	30	16	19	21	18	21	18	27	19	208	20.8
4	Aerokart Deep Blue	FR	17	29	16	17	19	18	18	21	24	22	201	20.1
5	Paraclete XP4	US	18	29	16	17	20	16	17	22	20	22	197	19.7

Shamrock Showdown 2011			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Total	Avg
Rank	AAA Class		N,H,3,1	J,4,C,13	7,17,19	B,20,15	12,22,M	F,18,2	E,16,9	G,8,21	P,A,11,14	10,Q,D,L	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	25	25	25	24	20	25	30	22	24	29	249	24.9
2	Aerodyne Aerokart	FR	23	24	23	24	19	23	29	23	24	24	236	23.6
3	NMP PCH Hayabusa	BE	21	23	22	23	19	21	28	20	22	29	228	22.8
4	Paraclete XP4	US	18	21	20	19	16	20	24	18	23	20	199	19.9
5	DeLand Norgies	NO	21	19	20	20	15	18	25	19	20	21	198	19.8
6	SDC Rhythm XP	US	18	19	20	21	15	18	24	19	20	23	197	19.7
7	Deep Blue Defenders	FR	18	18	19	19	13	18	22	19	21	23	190	19.0
8	Black Cat	RU	18	18	19	17	16	18	21	17	17	16	177	17.7

The 2015 progression of the French national team in 4-way Women has been the most consistent and most aggressive one in the French event history, and the 22.4 average at the World Air Games 2015 was the highest one after the 23.6 of the original Deep Blue lineup in Menzelinsk 2010, which was boosted by a Super Sequence.

Only the Golden Knights ever scored higher (22.7) - at the World Air Games 2015. The French FLY-IN Girls were still only

three points behind in Dubai - at Pamela Lissajoux's first outdoor meet with the team.

It seems like both top contenders in 4-way Women were on eye level at the end of the 2015 season, despite the new French lineup with the youngest two members in the center slots. National coach Mathieu Bernier is in DeLand with his team and will meet his former world champion team mate Jeremie Rollett, who is coaching the Qatar Tigers. They will try to push each other and their teams to higher performance levels.