WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2024
Wairarapa’s locally owned community newspaper
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Going full bore Lucy Cooper
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Masterton resident and retired veterinarian John McLaren will fly to South Africa in March to compete as part of the New Zealand team at the long-range rifle world championships. It will be far from a novelty for this veteran, who is in his 45th year representing his country in what he describes as a “friendly, lifelong sport” that has brought him accolades, adventure and “an international community of friends”. Now in his mid-70s, McLaren was about seven years old when he first picked up a gun – a
John McLaren with his latest haul of silverware from the Wairarapa Open Championships in January. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
slug gun – “shooting into a target in front of a bookcase in the garden at home”. He honed his skill as a schoolboy at Scott’s College in Wellington and then at university: “I just kept up with the sport, really,” he said. Being chosen for the New Zealand long-range team in 1979 was a “really exciting” moment for McLaren “because there are lots of people around you who had vastly more experience, but you know, I was shooting really well and so I qualified to shoot”. His 45-year unbroken membership with the team has taken him across the globe, including England [19
ABOVE: John McLaren’s winning medal from 19 January 1979.
times], Canada, America and Australia, and bagged him one silver and five bronze medals. “You meet marvellous people,” McLaren said. “I’ve got friends from all around the world that I team up with and meet. It’s a sport of affection and patience, but once you develop a skill in shooting, it’s quite competitive. You can comment with the shooter next door – you’re not trying to beat them, you’re not on either side of a net or anything. It is a friendly, lifelong sport.” McLaren mastered long-range rifle shooting at the international level Continued on page 3 PHOTO/WAIRARAPA ARCHIVE
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