Outdoor Archery Season, 2003

Summary

Fita average

 Dist	 Hits  Golds    Score   Low  High  S. Dev. Num
  90m   36.00   3.25   272.50   251   286  11.0567   8
  70m   36.00   5.25   301.12   289   317   9.1983   8
  50m   35.88   7.12   303.38   293   311   6.6321   8
  30m   36.00  15.25   332.62   323   338   4.4983   8
  All  143.88  30.88  1209.62  1178  1242  19.5316   8

Fita equivalent average

 Dist	 Hits    Score   Low  High  S. Dev. Num
  All  143.90  1211.90  1178  1242  18.2508  10

Competitions

Burnaby Fita Star, 3rd May

The first time I had shot a full Fita round since the operation for a SLAP lesion the previous September. I was pleased to complete the round, a little bit tired, but without pain. The score could have been better, but was perfectly acceptable under the circumstances. Mike Hornsberger trumped my performance by breaking his riser (Gold Medalist), borrowing a totally different riser (PSE Zone) and beating my score handily (he also set a personal best in the process).

Canada Cup, 17th-19th May

The best way to prepare for a tournament is not to climb a mountain the previous weekend, ski down, crash, and re-injure a shoulder you've just spent seven months re-habilitating. This was my preparation for the Canada Cup, and while I wouldn't recommend it, it seemed to work OK. I wasn't sure I'd be able to shoot the tournament until Thursday night, and was still getting twinges of pain in the shoulder all of Friday.

On the drive up to Burnaby on Saturday morning, it rained heavily all the way to the Canadian border, but was just overcast coming into Vancouver. The long distances on Saturday morning were indifferent, both dragged down by one really poor end. I decided to shoot the double Fita rather than a single over two days, to try and get a better score on Sunday. The afternoon scores improved a bit, and I was glad to make it through the day without shoulder pain and without getting rained on. Sunday was warmer and sunnier, apart from a thunderstorm and cold rain shower that struck at the end of 50m and into the start of 30m. I started out shooting indifferently, but worked out my front-end problems at the end of 90m, and shot well from 70m through to the first half of 50m. The second half of 50m and 30m were a little bit frustrating, but average scores. I took third place in the double Fita, and qualified fourth for the elimination rounds (seeding was on the long distances from Saturday and the short distances from Sunday).

This was the first time I've shot a double elimination round, including the final ``if needed'' game, and I think I like the format. In the double elimination round, you have to lose twice to be knocked out. The first time you lose, you transfer to the loser's pool. Eventually, the winner of the loser's pool shoots off against the loser of the winner's pool, to see who gets to challenge the winner of the winner's pool for the gold. I shot the highest score in the first 18-arrow round (setting a club record because nobody had done an 18-arrow round before). I had one dreadful end in the second match, and lost to Shawn Riggs. From there, things started to go better as I managed to fix my anchor-point problems, and I fought my way through to win the loser's bracket, repeating the match against Shawn in the end with a better result for me. Along the way, I shot some very good scores, setting a new personal best and club record for the 12-arrow match and then equalling it again two rounds later. I finally got put out by Canada's finest, Hugh MacDonald, on the final arrow of a tight match, and took third place. Hugh lost to Mike Hornsberger in the gold medal match.

Euronations, 14th-15th June

I was very pleased with my performance in the Canada Cup, but my shoulder started hurting badly again the week after it. In retrospect, I probably should not have represented Scotland at this tournament, since I was still in pain. I did come second in the team, so I did help a bit. I had to give up on the Sunday open shoot because of the shoulder pain.

Sherwood, 19th-20th July

Sherwood is too much fun to miss, even with a dodgy shoulder. Once again, it was hot and sunny. Once again, Brian Funston won it. Once again, I made the team with a couple of reasonable but not great scores.

Burnaby, 2nd-3rd August

I don't remember much about this tournament. The scores weren't good, which is probably why I've forgotten.

Canadian Champs, 12th-16th August

The Canadian Championships were in Victoria this year, however they were not held at Victoria Archers' usual sheltered range. The field they were held at was bigger, but open to side-winds, which I struggled badly with all of the days of the tournament. The wind seemed to change from one side to the other incredibly quickly, I just could not get used to it. In addition, my shoulder was very painful, and I was taking large doses of anti-inflammatories and painkillers. I shot very poorly all week, especially in the Canadian Open elimination round. After this tournament, I gave up shooting for the rest of the year, because my shoulder pain was too much to bear.