Innholdsfortegnelse for Issue 161 i Bow International

You wait years for another champion compounder, and then two come along at once. Isabelle ‘Izzy’ Carpenter, aged just 23, took the individual title at the European Championships in Munich in June, beating veteran Sophie Dodemont of France. Ella Gibson, who we are interviewing on page 17, took the team title along with Izzy and Jess Stretton. Izzy is also an archery writer for Bow, Archery GB and others, so we’re especially proud of her victory over here. You can read our report on the Euros on page 25. Elsewhere in this issue, we’ve got some brand-new kit appearing, and a special roundup feature on the finest tips for travelling on an aircraft with your bow, informed by horror stories from archers all over the world. Kristina Dolgilevica continued her…

British world number six Ella Gibson has broken her own European record for the 15-arrow 50m match on home soil, after shooting a perfect 150 points with 10 Xs at a world record status shoot in Meriden on 3 June. She previously held the same record with nine Xs. The current world record, held by the USA’s Linda Ochoa-Anderson, is 150 with 11 Xs. “It felt amazing to go into my last end knowing I needed 3 Xs to break it and being able to deliver that,” said Gibson. “I definitely think I can beat [the world record], given time, one X at a time and one record at a time,” she added. “I don’t know when, but I think I’ll have it.” Gibson has already qualified for this year’s…

Nationwide paralysis charity Sportability has appointed former GB Paralympic archer Tania Nadarajah to its board of trustees. Nadarajah was previously a patron of the charity but now brings her marketing and communications expertise, as well as first-hand knowledge of the Sportability experience, to this new role. Sportability provides sporting activities for people with paralysis all around the UK, encouraging participation whatever an individual’s level of experience, with the goal of rebuilding confidence and restoring self-esteem. Nadarajah was selected for the 2016 Paralympic Games, where she placed fourth in the mixed team event in Rio, and continued to be a part of the national team until her retirement from international competition in 2021. Speaking about her new role, Nadarajah said: “I am delighted to join an organisation that has had such…

Most people have heard a few airline-baggage horror stories, and seasoned archers may have a few of their own. For the pros, gear not turning up or being delayed at a major tournament is essentially an occupational hazard, and the archery peleton usually swings into action lending spare bows, arrows, and everything else. For us mere mortals, it may be more complicated, and if your bow isn’t there on time, that’s it. So how can you avoid delays and issues with your equipment when travelling? DRIVE… IF YOU CAN If it’s possible to avoid the hassle and expense of flying, do so. Most commonly, archers will share a car with several other archers, and usually share some of the driving, too. This is, naturally, only feasible on certain journeys, and…

Chinese company Sanlida has recently been hovering on the fringes somewhere between the lower-priced offerings from the big manufacturers and the cheapest beginners gear you might find on Amazon. It does have a small but loyal following among a handful of serious recurve archers, and its risers are apparently well regarded among those who are looking for something slightly different and for value too. Many club coaches are huge fans of the brand for what it offers at an excellent price point. (Sanlida is also an OEM for other recurve archery brands, such as Samick, and makes compounds as well.) Its previous ‘serious’ offerings in risers and limbs were called the Athletics, which were also well-regarded. The company has, however, been criticised by some because its most popular risers, such…

Never give up. These are Lynne Harrison’s words when I ask her for any tips and this sums up her attitude when dealing with both success and personal challenges. I caught up with Lynne in a rare quiet moment at the National Field Archery Society’s (NFAS) 3D Championships, where she was running the competition’s administration, making sure the 400 archers had a smooth experience. HOW ARE THE 2022 NFAS 3D CHAMPIONSHIPS GOING? We deliberately kept the champs smaller this time as it’s the first 3Ds since 2019, but we were fully booked after only two weeks because everyone is so pleased to be back out shooting. YOU SHOOT AND VOLUNTEER. HOW DO YOU FIND BEING ON BOTH SIDES? They complement each other. I’m also the membership secretary for NFAS and…

The British Museum in London is currently holding an exhibition called The World Of Stonehenge, which is open until the middle of July 2022. There’s less in there about the titular monument itself and more about the age and its people. It broadly follows the story of Britain (and Europe) from around 4,000 BC to 1,000 BC, an age of transformation, ritual and beliefs, the last of which we are still only beginning to uncover. There are many objects to catch the eye; polished stone axes that apparently travelled all the way from Italy, astonishing worked gold jewellery and something called the Nebra Sky Disc, which was the world’s first map of the stars and certainly one of the most beautiful yet made. The objects that belonged to another wellknown…

ASIAN GAMES POSTPONED The upcoming Asian Games, due to take place in Hangzhou, China, in September 2023, have been postponed due to ongoing Covid issues in the country. They are now expected to be held in mid to late 2023. Similarly, the World University Games, due to be held in Chengdu, China, have also been delayed until next year. The event had already been postponed once and will now fill the 2023 slot, replacing Yekaterinburg, which recently had its event removed. Archery is a major part of the programme of both multisport events. The Asian Games are second only to the Olympics in size and status and host almost the same number of athletes. For the first time, the event is scheduled to include a full 10-medal archery programme –…

Archery GB has secured £100,000 as part of Sport England’s overall package of investment to make the Commonwealth Games a success and create a lasting national impact. Successful projects had to demonstrate that they were creating innovative and accessible opportunities to engage with disadvantaged communities, enabling people from all backgrounds to take part in sports and activities. This National Lottery-funded initiative is specifically aimed at reaching communities in Birmingham, the West Midlands and other community areas that have been identified as needing the most support, particularly as a lasting legacy to this year’s Commonwealth Games. Archery GB will be using this additional funding to increase participation in archery across ethnically diverse communities by expanding Project Rimaya and reinforcing the appeal of archery to many communities across the West Midlands area…

HOW DID YOU FEEL AFTER THE TEAM ROUND AT THE TOKYO OLYMPICS? The team round was disappointing. I’d never experienced nerves like it and I didn’t feel confident in my preparation in the lead up to Tokyo, so that didn’t help me to relax. I didn’t shoot anywhere near what I was capable of and didn’t enjoy the experience at all, especially after a pretty rubbish qualifying round. It was hard because I didn’t understand what was going wrong or how I was going to fix it before the individual rounds. HOW DID YOU GET UP FROM THAT? My teammates were all supportive and we helped each other refocus as best we could. I also called my parents that night and had a good cry. My dad said it was…

Mike Schloesser is a mystery wrapped inside a riddle wrapped inside an enigma. The apparently guileless 28-year-old doesn’t seem to have that ruthless streak that defines many winning sportspeople, and many elite-of-the-elite archers. His technique is mildly unorthodox, and he suffers from admitted self-doubt and obvious nerves in matchplay. Yet he has again hit a kind of god mode of compound target shooting. He won the individual title here, beating the defending champion Yakup Yildiz of Turkey, and led the Netherlands team to a silver medal, too – although that one was behind the Turkish men. But he was the only archer on the field for whom such an individual result almost seemed inevitable. It was entirely his to lose. To win now, you have to beat Mikey. He has…

The end of May is now synonymous with Istanbul’s Conquest Cup and this year many of the Ottoman style enthusiasts gathered for its 10th international anniversary event. However, there was something else going on that last weekend of May – the second European meeting of Korean traditional archers in Germany. The event took place in Iserlohn, in the west-central region, and was organised by Ki Joong Eom, a native of Gwangju, a German resident of 20 years and one of the leading proponents of thumb draw shooting in Europe. I was privileged to be invited as an honorary guest, to speak and compete. THE KTA DEBATE Having never shot my Korean bow outside of the South Korean clubhouse, I often wondered if I would enjoy it as much in a…

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A Shropshire archery club is set to welcome some new members after hosting two Help for Heroes veterans for a beginners’ course as part of the charity’s sports recovery programme. The two veterans – Stephen Wall, 54, from Wrentnall, Shrewsbury, and Jean MacDonald, 65, from Craven Arms, Shropshire – enjoyed the six-week course so much they are poised to continue their embryonic archery careers by joining the Long Mynd Archers club in Church Stretton. “This is the first course I’ve attended with Help for Heroes,” explained MacDonald. “Due to my PTSD, I’ve had a lot of mental health problems over the years; I’ve lost a lot of confidence and been very isolated with depression and anxiety.” Wall added: “I love the sense of discipline [archery] instils. I haven’t been in…

A surprising anthem appeared in the medal ceremonies on Recurve Sunday at the second World Cup stage of the year in Gwangju – surprising only because it was the German national anthem, rather than that of the Republic of Korea. Katharina Bauer and Felix Wieser won Germany’s first-ever recurve mixed-team gold medal on the World Cup circuit, with a four-set win over Brady Ellison and Casey Kaufhold of the USA at this year’s second outing, in Korea’s sixth city. Somehow, the hosts didn’t make the medal matches in the mixed-team event, losing to the Netherlands 6-2 in the quarter-finals earlier in the week. The Dutch pairing were then eliminated by the USA, while second seeds Germany cruised through their matches on the opposite side of the brackets. It seemed like…

WHO HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM, AND WHAT DID YOU LEARN? I have learnt so much from so many different people over the years. I learnt some of my foundations from the coaches at my club – Steph and Dan Gill – and even more elements of my technique from Jon Nott. I have learnt about my kit from so many people like Simon Scott, Shaun Teasdale, James Mason, Greg Poole and others. There isn’t one person that has taught me everything, but rather a huge group effort that has shaped the archer I am. One of the biggest things I have learnt is actually from Simon, Jon and myself. That’s to trust myself and my instincts, and that whenever I do that, I will be successful. WHAT CHANGES HAVE YOU…

Two weeks. That was all the time it took for all 400 places for the 2022 National Field Archery Society (NFAS) 3D Championships to fill up. There had been a certain amount of caution because of COVID-19 and the movement of the usual bank holiday on the final weekend of May. There was also the memory of the last time the 3Ds coincided with a royal event, when the Diamond Jubilee river pageant in 2012 brought all-day rain. Thankfully, there was no repeat and archers enjoyed good conditions throughout the weekend, with a mix of sunshine and patchy cloud, and winds remaining light. The setting was Thoresby Park, on the edge of Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire, with courses laid by local clubs. The woods were in full leaf, a mix…

Over the course of history, composite bows have been built and used in a stunning variety of shapes and sizes. But they all have one thing in common: rather than being made from a single stave of wood (self bows), or laminates of several layers of similar materials (laminated bows), they were composed of three or more layers of dissimilar materials, according to W. F. Paterson’s definition in the Encyclopaedia of Archery (1984). A clever combination of natural materials with different properties offers many advantages for designing efficient bows. A bow is essentially a simple form of spring. When the string is pulled, the outer side of the bow, the back, comes under tensile stress, while the inner side, or belly, is compressed. In natural materials, such as wood, the…