Results from first event

The 10m men's event is over and I finished as the 'High Visitor'. Shooting at the US Nationals you aren't able to go past the qualification to get into Finals if you aren't from the US. This also excludes you from being able to get any of the bonus points that they give out to the top 8 finishers.

My result from the first match was 564/600 which is a decent score for me. Before I got back into shooting in 2007 (after my 12 year break) my highest score had only ever been a 566/600. To give some perspective the Olympic minimum qualification score they'll accept is 563 but typical world class scores are in the 580 range with 594 being the current World Record out of a possible 600 points.

My second match went better, started out really strong with a 98 and finished the day with a 567/600 with at least six of my 60 shots being 9.9's. They only count as a 9 but when they show up on my screen they show it in a decimal so you know how close to the next scoring ring you are. 9.9 is as close to 10 as you can get. In the pistol discipline though a 9 with any decimal behind it is still only scored as a 9. Knowing I had soooooo many close shots felt good though. Makes me realize I can still improve a lot more!

My score of 567 / 600

My next event is the 50m outdoor event shot with my Pardini FPM which takes place on Saturday and Sunday morning. 

More updates to come! And check out @alharding on Twitter to get updates there!

At US Nationals!

Caught up with members of the Canadian rifle team (Ben Taylor, Mack Kohl, Connor Deneka, and Audry-Anne Dery) in Atlanta this past Friday. We tried to coordinate our trips so we'd all get in around the same time and well... this sort of worked. :)

Once we met up we explored a bit of downtown Atlanta and checked out the Centennial Olympic Park which was for the 1996 Summer Olympics. I always love seeing the legacy venues created for Olympic games and have been fortunate enough to see quite a few of them in North America. I can now check off Atlanta from my list. We called it an early night and got up early to go to the Georgia Aquarium and Zoo Atlanta. The aquarium is amazing, one of the largest tanks in the world!

One of four massive Whale Sharks!

Relaxing panda @ Zoo Atlanta!

After taking in some of Atlanta (a bit sad we missed out on the Braves game!) we started on our 2 hr drive to Columbus, Georgia which is just outside of Fort Benning.

Once we got settled we got to the range and got ourselves checked in and going through the equipment control process. As a pistol shooter this was about a 10 minute process, for my fellow rifle shooting team mates, depending on when you got in line, it could take up to 2 hrs to get through. Good time to go for lunch and come back later! ;)

I'll post up results here on the evenings after I shoot but you can also check them out as they get posted online on the USA Shooting website - scroll down to '2013 Rifle & Pistol National Championships'.

Thanks to all my new followers following me @alharding! Don't mind all the tech tweets, I do have a day job! ;)

Competing at the US Nationals next month!

A month from now I'll be competing at the US Nationals at Fort Benning, GA. I'm registered to shoot 10m and 50m ISSF events. This will be my second time shooting there but my first time shooting the 50m event. Last time I shot there I did well enough to qualify for the Canadian National Development Team for 2012 and I expect to do better at this event.

I'll be missing the BC Provincials in a couple weeks. If you're planning on attending make sure to get your registration forms in ASAP.

After US Nationals I'll be attending the Canadian Nationals in Calgary in August.