Defending champions BC Team wins Gold at 2009 Nationals

We did it again! The BC Team won Gold in the 10M event. This is the second year in a row our team has won the team event.

Individually, I missed Finals by 1 point and finished 9th. I found the indoor range to be a challenge to shoot in due to the changing lighting from the overhead skylights which were located over a few of the middle positions. My scores were 553/600 and 561/600, which are lower than where I was hoping to be.

gold medal for the BC Team consisting of Edmond Lee, Tyler Johnson, and myself

I ran into a few preparation problems before the 1st relay due to forgetting my competitor number and gun check information. I didn't have time to drive back to where I was staying to pick it up without possibly losing competition time so I made a new competitor number by hand. Awesome. Luckily I was able to get a photocopy of my gun check information from the officials. Small issue but that burned through 20 minutes of time which I normally would have used for getting ready mentally and physically.

After the morning relay I drove back and picked up all of my paperwork and competitor number and made it back with lots of time to run through my regular pre-shooting routine. By now, the sun was almost overhead and shining through the skylights and reflecting right off the floor. I couldn't sit in my chair without having a really bright glare in my eyes. Bright. Sunshine + squeaky clean linoleum floor = Arggghhhh.

Good learning experience to make sure I have everything packed and ready (I thought I did! :)) before shooting as well as to train in different lighting conditions... maybe even pack some sunglasses. 10M is always shot indoors so I didn't anticipate possibly needing any kind of tinted lenses.

For the Finals, they used an electronic target scoring system which is projected on to the wall and shows changes to the leader board in real-time. Very cool. It was great to have my two BC teammates shooting in Finals. Edmond Lee (553/600, 573/600) finished in 3rd behind Mark Hynes (Ontario) and Stan Wills (Alberta) thanks to his impressive 573 he shot in the afternoon relay. Tyler Johnson (558/600, 559/600) finished in 6th.

Sitting at the Calgary Airport now and waiting to fly home.

Back into 50M Free Pistol Shooting! 3rd place finish for Team BC.

Last week I was issued a an authorization to transport permit so I could take my classic Pardini PGP 75 .22 to Calgary for Nationals. Shooting the 50M event is a natural progression from shooting the 10M air event.

I didn't have much in the way of expectations considering I haven't fired a .22 pistol since 1994 but it's an event that I wanted to start competing in. My 15 minutes of sighter shots were basically all the practice I would get to shoot before shooting my first scoring shot.

what the 50m range looks like from my phone's camera

I ended the day with a 512 and a 484. My BC teammates, Tyler Johnson and Edmond Lee both shot 502 on their first round and then brought their scores up in the 2nd round. Edmond Lee made finals and finished in 7th overall. Our combined score gave our BC Team a 3rd place finish.

My main event is on Friday... I shoot at 8:00 am and again at 12:30 pm. I'll be off tomorrow and will probably take a look around the city. The 10M range isn't open for practice times until around 6pm tomorrow evening.

Flying to the 2009 Canadian National Pistol Championships in the morning

Excellent day at the 2009 World Police and Fire Games today. I was a volunteer helping with scoring and tear down of the Air Rifle venue in Richmond, BC.

air rifle shooters at the 2009 world police and fire games

Flying to Calgary in the morning...

Now that I have all of my registration, authorization to transport, and all other paperwork in order I'm taking my .22 Pardini PGP75 Free Pistol to Nationals. I haven't shot it in 14 years! I've got it all cleaned up, double locked and ready to transport.

I'm shooting 50M Pistol on Wednesday and 10M Pistol on Friday.

I better finish packing. Updates as I write them this week. Bang Bang.