Air Rifle Nationals 2002

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DURC sent a large team of 14 people (13 competitors and one administrative officer) to this year's Air Rifle National Championships, which were held in Wilkinstown this year for the first time in a decade, in the new NTSA portable range. This range shows how uncomplicated the requirements are for an olympic discipline like 10m Air Rifle. The full range seen here can be disassembled and moved in only three hours, though it does require several people and vans to move the various components. So long as an appropriately sized venue is available, the range can be used. This range should be examined with the new projectile design in mind - it demonstrates how the most important requirement is the physical size of the hall, but also the necessity for permanent fixtures - a three hour setup time would be prohibitive in anything but a temporary range like this one.

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The DURC squad shot extremely well, even given the required 5am starts on Saturday and Sunday (necessary to arrive in Wilkinstown with sufficent time to prepare to shoot). All bar myself set personal best scores, and Steven held the lead in the National Open until the last few shots. The National Open was held concurrently with the National Championship to allow for international shooters like Steven to compete. Steven managed to secure the bronze medal for DURC in the Open. He would have taken a national championship medal home, but for his passport.

The Colours squad used this event as a warm-up and training exercise for the colours match (due to be held in Wilkinstown on April 27th), and given the scores acheived, this was judged to be a resounding success. The squad learnt many valuable lessons in match strategy, and also gained some experience of shooting under pressure. Deirdre Ninaber, shooting in her first air rifle match, managed to take first place in class D with a 537, a phenonomally high score for a beginner, and which will see her moved up to class B with her next competition. This bodes very well for the upcoming colours match, which this year is an offically CUSAI-recognised Intervarsity for the first time.

The DURC Squad. Back Row, left to right: Doug Woolett, Ray Reilly, Peter Byrne, John Keeney, Adrian Costigan, Ben Jones, Mark Dennehy
Front Row, left to right: Victoria McDowell, Deirdre Ninaber, Kate Fanning and captain Steven Watterson