Hello to my loyal readers! Welcome back to the final indoor installment of this esteemed publication where I tell you things you know in a slightly comedic way (I hope). In an exciting development I was actually at this competition, so all my news is first hand and I managed to chat to some lovely SWWU folk. It was very nice to see everyone and you can now expect to see me at the other events of the year!
Last Sunday we had an excellent competition with 104(!!) archers attending which makes this the largest SWWU ever, to my knowledge at least and that’s what matters. It certainly was a busy affair with experienced and novice teams from every uni. I want to say congrats to everyone who travelled and shot! These SWWUs are a rare event to mingle with like minded people from other unis and for any whose first SWWU this was, I hope you enjoyed it :). As I was boots on the ground I was taking pictures of everyone I could so hopefully there is a picture of you shooting (sorry if it’s shit!).
We had some great shooting as well with many Bray 1 records broken. Congratulations to Magdalena Kazmierczak, Ed Moore, Priya Sitlani, Amy Bode, Isaac Bailey, Jay Moon, Sean Hughes and Nathaniel Redding for beating previous record holders and enshrining their names in history for years to come. The website records will be updated soon but make sure you grab a screenshot and you can tell your children one day how you were the best of all time in a niche round in a niche sport of a small selection of universities! All kidding aside, well done!
After the competition we had the return of the SWWU ball for its 3rd appearance since Covid with 45 attendees! Thanks to all who came, it was lovely to see everyone all dressed up and fancy. I also appreciate Gert who forced Alex into a speech which was so powerful it brought a tear to my eyes. Is there anything he can’t do?
Now lets move onto the results!
Starting with REM, Bristol takes the top spot with Alex Williams having dominated his way through the bracket. Silver is taken by Exeter’s Darrell McFaweya. Bath’s Josh Watts beats Austin Zhan to take the bronze medal.Onto REW, it was a dominant showing from Bristol, but in the end, Sheryl Shen took gold, beating teammate Maja Kliczka in the final. Magdalena Kazmierczak secures bronze after a strong win over Lily Barrett, completing Bristol’s full podium sweep.
In the RNM category, Bath’s Jonathan Jackson beats Exeter’s Ed Moore to win them gold and Siddique Pathan wins bronze for UWE. Over in RNW, Priya Sitlani wins gold for Bath, with Bristol’s Chloe Wong in second and Bristol’s Mina D’raven-Smith winning the bronze medal match
Now onto barebow! For Experienced Barebow, Aaron Shanks of UWE put on a commanding performance to take gold over Plymouth’s Marilyn Wong, a shock for long time readers of the column. In the bronze match, Bristol’s Lucas Geertman battled it out and came out on top against Jack Langston of Aberystwyth.
The Novice Barebow category was a fierce showdown, but Bath’s Dev Vashisht emerged victorious, defeating Swansea’s Jasmine Davies in the final. Meanwhile, Matthew Hollenbeck from Bath secures bronze after a strong win over Jay Moon from Bristol.
Over in the compound division, Amy Victoria Bode comes out on top with just a 4 point gap leaving silver for Daniel Hickman. Bronze is won by Plymouth’s Corey Richardson.
Longbow was a tight contest, but Plymouth’s Sean Hughes secured yet another gold, defeating Bath’s Nathaniel Redding in the final. Bristol’s Segh Gilham claims bronze.
Now onto the teams! Bristol takes gold once again in the Experienced Non-Compound Teams, with Exeter in second and Bath in third. The Novice Non-Compound category saw Bath take the top spot, Bristol in second, and Exeter in third. Finally, Swansea comfortably wins the Compound Team category, followed by Bristol in second and Plymouth in third.
With only a few more competitions left, the title race is still ongoing for both the experienced and novice leagues! Unfortunately, it will be a little while until the next SWWU but we shall be outside and hopefully the weather will be good. Check out the Calendar for upcoming comps and see you then!
