SUCCESSFUL NATIONALS

Recently, Darfield High School Student, Ryan Booth Ryan Booth Ryan Ryan Booth, competed at the Target Shooting New Zealand (TSNZ) 50m Outdoor Nationals, run by Canterbury

Outdoor Target Shooting (COTS) atMcLeansIsland.

Day one of competition, Ryan shot at the end of the day in 30 degree heat in the Badge Match, placing fourth in B Grade, with a scoreof602.8.

The following day, the heat was still there! It was the first of two days of the Graded matches. Ryan placed second in B Grade withascoreof606.7.

On day three, the cool weather arrived, with not only the wind but drizzle being blown in while shooting. The rain made the flags heavy, and they stuck to their poles, which made it impossible to figure out which way the wind was blowing. Even with all that to contend with, Ryan won his match with a score of 606.9, which was the top score across the day by all competitors.

Day four was the Men's Elimination Match, still in cool, damp weather. Ryan was in the second Elimination Match and won that round, with a score of 612.50. He placed second overall, out of twenty six shooters, after the two matches had been shot. This placed Ryan in the qualifying match, in which he placed fifth, with a score of 611.9.

The North vs South Match was then shot in the afternoon, Ryan shot a score of 608.7, helping the South Island to win the match, which is the first time since2007.

At the end of day four, the International teams were named forthematchesheldonSaturday morning.

Ryan qualified for the following teams:

• Wakefield(Top10NZ)-the firsttimeinthisteam

• Slazenger(Top20NZ)

• NZJuniorsvsAustralia(Top3) -thefirsttimeinthisteam

• NZJuniorDrewTeam(Top10)

• NZJuniorDrewMenTeam (Top3) -Captainthisyear.

Ryan’s score of 610.5 went towards all of the above matches. The Wakefield and Slazengermatch resultswon’t be known until this time next year when the teams from overseas shoot in their summer.

To finish o the week, there was an Association Match, which Ryan was in with three fellow COTS members, winning the competition for the second year running.

Open Water Swimming

In January, the Smith siblings competed in the New Zealand Open Water Championships, in LakeTaupo.

Ben Ben (17) competed in the Open Men’s 10km event finishing a credible fifth, he also claimed a National BronzeMedal in his age group (16-17) at the same time. It is an achievement in itself to swimthatdistance.

Holly HollyHolly Holly (16) swum the 7.5km race finishing fifth in the Open Women's category, she also claimed a National Bronze Medal inheragegroup(16-17).

It was the first time either had swum those distances, and both enjoyed their races but felt like having another crack with this experience under their belts would be great. Learning when and how to best hydrate and feed during the race is a crucial partofswimmingthatfar.

The two younger Smiths, Sam SamSam (13) and Jessie JessieJessie (14), also took part, racing in the 2.5km distance, both finished eighteenthintheiragegroups.

In a unique experience, the four siblings combined to compete in the4x1kmrelay,finishing fifthin the Open Section. Unfortunately, as Ben was already 17, they couldn't compete in the age group section of 13-16. A tough ask amongst New Zealand's best open water and Commonwealth Gamesswimmers.

Holly was fortunate enough to have been subsequently named in a New Zealand Team to participate in a distance training