posted May 8th, 2023 - The NSL News reported on May 6th that Sweden's national team in 4-way Open, Echochamber Oceanside, lost six points in a very unusual way at the FAI Indoor World Championship 2023. The story provided a brief overview of the situation that caused the deduction of the mentioned six points.

Echochamber lost the first three points in an unusual way in Round 4, the last competition round of the first event day. The second 3-point loss occurred in Round 6, the second round on Friday. The situations were identical and identified on the InTime scoresheets as "camera angle/grip visibility" issues.

The InTime videos of the two rounds caught the NSL News attention during the update that covered the exciting battle for the 6th place between five contenders, including Echochamber. The Swedish national team in 4-way Open won this battle and finished in 6th place behind the German Jochen Schweizer Arena Airfource.

The NSL News pointed out that Echochamber still finished in 6th place, despite the 6-point damage. In fact, the last two rounds were the team's best performance, where they moved up from 8th place to the valuable position behind the strong German team, as team speaker Ulf Liljenbäck confirmed: "We are super happy with our final two rounds that took us up from 8th to 6th place. Since 2014 until 2018 we always finished strongly. Then we had a few big meets, world championships, world cups, when we did not. Why? We don't know."

FAI Indoor World Championship 2023			1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		E,14,3	K,F,22,17	O,7,5	N,2,18	L,P,12,15	M,10,D,H	16,9,C	1,G,J,8	4,Q,21	6,20,A	B,11,19	Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	27	35	39	27	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	128	32.0
2	France 4-way Open	FR	27	33	38	26	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	124	31.0
3	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	26	30	33	26	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	115	28.8
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	24	29	32	26	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	111	27.8
5	Jochen Schweizer Arena Airfource	DE	22	28	33	22	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	105	26.3
6	Purple Maze	FI	22	26	29	19	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	96	24.0
6	FLY X	IT	19	27	30	20	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	96	24.0
8	Papea	ES	23	24	29	19	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	95	23.8
8	Echochamber Oceanside	SE	22	26	30	17	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	95	23.8
10	HF Flying Circus	CZ	20	23	29	22	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	94	23.5
10	Agera	NO	22	24	29	19	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	94	23.5
12	Out of the Blue	NL	22	23	27	21	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	93	23.3
13	Meraki	UK	17	24	26	22	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	89	22.3
14	Realfly Fire	CH	20	21	26	17	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	84	21.0
14	Bronteroc	HU	20	22	24	18	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	84	21.0
16	INIT-Y	BR	19	20	29	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	83	20.8
17	FlySpot Sky4Four	PL	21	21	24	16	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	82	20.5
18	Red Bull Aerodynamix	AT	20	21	21	16	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	78	19.5
19	Magic 4	LT	17	19	23	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	74	18.5

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Echochamber's Round 4 at the FAI Indoor World Championship 2023, video footage courtesy of FAI/InTime

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The first unexpected 3-point loss in Round 4 dropped Echochamber from the 6th to the 8th place, and it caused a situation that any athlete or team never wants to be involved with. They did not understand the reason for the point deductions, as the videos were not available for reviews.

Any outdoor competition allows teams to review their own videos, after the team videographer has dubbed it for the judges. The videos at indoor competitions are only in direct possession of judges and video operators. Echochamber asked the judges for a review of the available video, which surely did not catch the whole performance in frame. However, Echochamber were sure that the top camera would show any missing grips or maneuvers.

The camera that was filming the competition performances was not installed in the center of the flying chamber and did not provide a symmetrical recording of any performances. Echochamber's higher flying level at parts of the performance eventually caused the compromised vision and the point deductions due to "camera angle/grip visibility".

However, the NSL News mentioned earlier that the current rules actually cover a similar situation: "Where the video evidence is considered insufficient for judging purposes, a re-performance will be given unless the Video Review Panel determines that there has been an intentional abuse of the rules by the team, in which case no re-performance will be granted and the team will receive the minimum score for that performance." Echochamber filed a protest after Round 4, which was rejected for unknown reasons.

FAI Indoor World Championship 2023			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		11		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		E,14,3		K,F,22,17		O,7,5		N,2,18		L,P,12,15		M,10,D,H		16,9,C		1,G,J,8		4,Q,21		6,20,A		B,11,19		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	27		35		39		27	-2	31		38		38		29		-		-		-		264	33.0
2	France 4-way Open	FR	27		33		38		26	-2	28		33	-3	35		28		-		-		-		248	31.0
3	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	26	-1	30		33	-3	26	-3	28		37	-1	37		28		-		-		-		245	30.6
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	24		29	-1	32	-1	26		25	-3	32		30	-2	26		-		-		-		224	28.0
5	Jochen Schweizer Arena Airfource	DE	22	-2	28	-1	33		22		25		30	-2	31		24		-		-		-		215	26.9
6	FLY X	IT	19	-4	27		30	-1	20	-1	21	-1	29	-2	30	-1	23	-1	-		-		-		199	24.9
7	Purple Maze	FI	22		26		29		19	-3	21		29		27		25		-		-		-		198	24.8
8	Papea	ES	23	-1	24	-2	29	-2	19	-5	21	-2	28	-2	28		25		-		-		-		197	24.6
8	HF Flying Circus	CZ	20	-2	23	-1	29	-1	22		20	-2	30	-2	29		24		-		-		-		197	24.6
8	Echochamber Oceanside	SE	22		26	-1	30		17	-5	24		28	-3	27	-2	23		-		-		-		197	24.6
11	Agera	NO	22		24		29		19	-1	23		25	-2	26	-2	23		-		-		-		191	23.9
12	Out of the Blue	NL	22		23	-2	27	-2	21	-1	21		26	-1	26	-1	22	-1	-		-		-		188	23.5
13	Meraki	UK	17	-4	24		26	-3	22		19	-2	27		28		22	-1	-		-		-		185	23.1
14	INIT-Y	BR	19	-2	20	-3	29		15	-4	19	-1	27		27		23	-1	-		-		-		179	22.4
15	Realfly Fire	CH	20	-1	21	-2	26	-1	17	-2	20		27		24	-2	23		-		-		-		178	22.3
16	Bronteroc	HU	20	-1	22	-1	24	-3	18	-1	20	-1	26	-1	25	-1	19	-1	-		-		-		174	21.8
17	FlySpot Sky4Four	PL	21		21	-1	24	-3	16	-2	21		27		25		17	-6	-		-		-		172	21.5
18	Red Bull Aerodynamix	AT	20	-1	21	-2	21	-3	16	-2	23		26	-1	25	-1	16	-3	-		-		-		168	21.0
19	Magic 4	LT	17	-1	19	-2	23		15	-4	20		27		25	-1	18	-3	-		-		-		164	20.5

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Echochamber's Round 6 at the FAI Indoor World Championship 2023, video footage courtesy of FAI/InTime

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The NSL News conclusion, which credited Echochamber for still winning the 6th place after the unpleasant experience, covered only half of the story. Ulf Liljenbäck said that his own and his team mates' minds were still occupied with the aftermath of the point deductions for a while, at the end of the first day: "We spent the whole evening reading rules, putting together a protest and, not least, debating within the team what to do."

Echochamber were thinking about how to adjust grips, positions and other ways to make sure that the grips are visible in the coming rounds, until Airspeed's Mikhail Markine provided advice and recommended to drop any of those thoughts: "Don't go there, don't even start thinking about putting it on the teams to think about where the camera is, so you are safe. It is simply not doable."

However, the Echochamber minds were probably still occupied next day, as the same situation occurred again in Round 6. Now they had to digest the next 3-point deductions knowing that any protest would not go through, and there would be no "re-performance". Echochamber were still in 8th place after Round 8 at the end of the second day and after the second set of 3-point losses for the same reason.

FAI Indoor World Championship 2023			1		2		3		4		5		6		7		8		9		10		Total	Avg
Rank	4-way Open		E,14,3		K,F,22,17		O,7,5		N,2,18		L,P,12,15		M,10,D,H		16,9,C		1,G,J,8		4,Q,21		6,20,A		Total	Avg
1	Arizona Airspeed	US	27		35		39		27	-2	31		38		38		29		28	-1	31		323	32.3
2	France 4-way Open	FR	27		33		38		26	-2	28		33	-3	35		28		30		30		308	30.8
3	NMP-PCH Hayabusa	BE	26	-1	30		33	-3	26	-3	28		37	-1	37		28		29		30	-1	304	30.4
4	Qatar Tigers	QA	24		29	-1	32	-1	26		25	-3	32		30	-2	26		25	-1	26	-1	275	27.5
5	Jochen Schweizer Arena Airfource	DE	22	-2	28	-1	33		22		25		30	-2	31		24		24	-1	25	-1	264	26.4
6	Echochamber Oceanside	SE	22		26	-1	30		17	-5	24		28	-3	27	-2	23		24		25	-1	246	24.6
7	FLY X	IT	19	-4	27		30	-1	20	-1	21	-1	29	-2	30	-1	23	-1	22	-2	24	-1	245	24.5
8	HF Flying Circus	CZ	20	-2	23	-1	29	-1	22		20	-2	30	-2	29		24		20	-3	25		242	24.2
9	Purple Maze	FI	22		26		29		19	-3	21		29		27		25		21	-3	21	-2	240	24.0
9	Papea	ES	23	-1	24	-2	29	-2	19	-5	21	-2	28	-2	28		25		21	-1	22	-2	240	24.0
11	Out of the Blue	NL	22		23	-2	27	-2	21	-1	21		26	-1	26	-1	22	-1	21		22		231	23.1
12	Agera	NO	22		24		29		19	-1	23		25	-2	26	-2	23		19	-2	19	-3	229	22.9
13	Meraki	UK	17	-4	24		26	-3	22		19	-2	27		28		22	-1	23		18	-5	226	22.6
14	INIT-Y	BR	19	-2	20	-3	29		15	-4	19	-1	27		27		23	-1	23		20	-2	222	22.2
15	Realfly Fire	CH	20	-1	21	-2	26	-1	17	-2	20		27		24	-2	23		20	-1	19	-3	217	21.7
16	Bronteroc	HU	20	-1	22	-1	24	-3	18	-1	20	-1	26	-1	25	-1	19	-1	21		18	-2	213	21.3
17	FlySpot Sky4Four	PL	21		21	-1	24	-3	16	-2	21		27		25		17	-6	20	-1	20	-1	212	21.2
18	Red Bull Aerodynamix	AT	20	-1	21	-2	21	-3	16	-2	23		26	-1	25	-1	16	-3	20	-1	20	-1	208	20.8
19	Magic 4	LT	17	-1	19	-2	23		15	-4	20		27		25	-1	18	-3	19		18	-2	201	20.1

The Swedes might have become more familiar with the stress situation and eventually delivered their best performances in the last two rounds. They matched the scores of the German Airfource in Round 9 and Round 10 and had good reasons to wonder whether or not they might have performed better on the second day without the distracting events of Day 1.

Ulf Liljenbäck was pointing out the good side of the experience: "Executing our skills under pressure is what it all is about in competition. The strong finish this time is promising for upcoming events."

Elisabet Mikaelsson, Sweden's ISC Delegate to FAI's Skydiving Commission, will file an addition to the rules for indoor competition. There is currently no requirement for the placement of the camera that records the competition videos for the judges. There is also no requirement for announcing during the team briefing in which flying space, horizontally and vertically, the teams have to perform at.

Echochamber probably deserved a "re-performance" under the current set of rules. However, they made it to the 6th place with a great finish and can take on the German Airfource at the next event. The addition to the rules will hopefully avoid these kind of "camera angle/grip visibility" troubles in the future.