posted Apr 11th, 2009 - Airspeed Odyssey will still be around for a while.

A live interview with the reigning 4-way world champions after the World Challenge 2009 brought good news and bad news at the same time.

The good news are for Formation Skydiving competition in general, the bad news are for the 4-way top teams that want to win any competition that Airspeed Odyssey attends, as well. The Airspeed members made it very clear that they don't even consider retiring at any time soon - even not after losing a meet or the top position in the world.

The NSL News has had this Airspeed lineup or single members live on NSL-TV camera several times ever since this lineup got together at the beginning of the 2007 season. Airspeed has won every single one of the 17 4-way competitions that the team has attended in this time period, as the NSL News already reported on 5 April 2009.

It was time for a new live Airspeed update after the clear victory at this year's World Challenge at Bodyflight Bedford, and the interview after the award ceremony was lively and very interesting. The Airspeed members seem to be more motivated than ever and surely enjoy what they are doing.

It was an 11-point victory this year, over the strongest field that the World Challenge has seen yet in its 4-year history. Airspeed's dominating performance could be discouraging for the many world class opponents, and the NSL News was interested in finding out how the Airspeed members see their own position and their own future.

Airspeed Odyssey has seen much closer and more exciting races for the top spot before the World Challenge 2009. This year's victory was the 4th consecutive one since the World Challenge was launched in 2006. Brian Johnson was Airspeed's Tail at the first event where only an early Spa Hayabusa lineup tried to offer some resistance. Airspeed won the World Challenge 2006 by 27 points (233 - 206).

The field was already much stronger in 2007, and Airspeed attended the team's first indoor competition with the new lineup. Mark Kirkby was now back in his Airspeed Tail slot after training and competing with Team Fastrax for a few years. XL and Team Fastrax made it much more challenging for Airspeed in 2007, and only one single point saved this victory over the finish line in Bedford (280 - 279).

It was just as difficult for Airspeed in 2008 when XL was challenging the defending champion. The same Airspeed lineup won by two points this time (283 - 281), and the field was even stronger than in 2007.

The field at the World Challenge 2009 was the biggest and the strongest one in the history of the event. Airspeed still managed to finish 11 points ahead of the team in second place, Perris Fury (288 - 277). This was the main reason why the NSL News was interested in direct feedback from the team.

The Airspeed members explained in the interview what made this year's event so special and how the team manages to deliver top performance whenever it is necessary.

The most logical reason for the increased distance to the other contenders was the fact that Airspeed had the most consistent performance in Bedford in the history of the team, as Craig Girard said. The team members agreed that they did well in each round.

Mark Kirkby knew the main reason for Airspeed's ability to deliver top performance at the right time. He said that this lineup has a "wealth of experience" that is probably unprecedented. It is impossible for teams to train for experience, which can only be collected with years in the sport and attendance of competitions. The current Airspeed lineup has already 17 meets in the logbooks in little over two years of team history.

At the same time, even the long-time veterans Craig Girard and Mark Kirkby still enjoy 4-way training and competition at least just as much as younger competitors in the sport may do. Especially Craig Girard never hides his passion and enjoyment of the events. He seems to have great fun either during the events or at the awards ceremonies.

The passion for the sport and having fun at the events motivates Airspeed to keep going. The team members are fully aware of the fact that they could end up losing a meet here and there at any time. They are ready for it, and it will not stop them. The days will soon be over over where one or two teams can dominate the sport and then retire before the next top teams take a dominating position.

The Airspeed members are ready to win a meet, lose another one and then win again, and they will enjoy this more challenging situation just as much. Craig Girard and Mark Kirkby have experienced this in 4-way and 8-way already for many years, and the same spirit continues in the current Airspeed lineup.