Archers from across the region came together in Swansea this weekend for the first leg of the 2019-20 SWWU season. Competitors shot a Portsmouth round, with 10 SWWU records being broken or set throughout the day.
In the team events, Plymouth asserted their dominance, finishing top in both the experienced (2225) and novice (953) non-compound leagues. Bath brought along an exceptional team, clinching a surprise 2nd place finish in the experienced league (2205), followed closely by Exeter in 3rd (2194). Swansea took 2nd place in the novice league (870), just 3 points ahead of Exeter (867). In the new mixed compound league, Swansea stormed to victory (1123), with Exeter picking up 2nd (769) and Cardiff Met in 3rd (570).
The Gents’ Experienced Recurve category proved to be as competitive as ever, with Plymouth’s Joe Tripp taking gold (578) and Exeter’s William Ingamells taking silver (574), just one point ahead of Plymouth’s Alex Rowe (573).
The Ladies’ Experienced Recurve category also had a tight finish, with Bath’s Charlotte Lunt (551) edging out Cardiff’s Joanne Humphreys (550) by a single point to take gold.
In the Gents’ Experienced Compound category, Cardiff Met’s Ieuan Thomas (570) claimed gold, narrowly outscoring Swansea’s Ricki Duffield (567) .
The full list of gold medalists are as follows, with new SWWU records starred:
Gents’ Experienced Recurve – Joe Tripp, Plymouth (578*)
Gents’ Experienced Compound – Ieuan Thomas, Cardiff Met (570)
Gents’ Experienced Barebow – Paul Cobee, Bath (555*)
Gents’ Experienced Longbow – Kieran Parteger, Bath (285*)
Ladies’ Experienced Recurve – Charlotte Lunt, Bath (551)
Ladies’ Experienced Compound – Grace Barrett-Rees, Swansea (556*)
Ladies’ Experienced Barebow – Lauren Manton, Bristol (464*)
Ladies’ Experienced Longbow – Keely Pringle, Swansea (233*)
Gents’ Novice Recurve – Oscar Johnson, Plymouth (334*)
Gents’ Novice Compound – David Hendy, Plymouth (522*)
Gents’ Novice Barebow – Ed Saha, Swansea (295)
Ladies’ Novice Recurve – Harriet Wood, Exeter (383*)
Ladies’ Novice Barebow – Harriet Lowbridge, Cardiff (322*)
Archers then enjoyed a great evening in The Original Bierkeller, where Swansea’s sponsors for the day kindly put on platters of food for competitors to enjoy. Archers then set off home, with Exeter hoping to make the trip back without another tyre blowing on their car – A handful of their archers were stuck on the M5 for part of the morning, until they were rescued thanks to the efforts of Mark Ferguson, Alex Woolley and Tyre City Bridgwater…
We’d like to thank Keely Pringle, Matt Walker, Adam Tankard and the rest of Swansea for being such great hosts and ensuring that the league kicked off in style!
The next SWWU event is a coaching day, hosted by Swansea once again, on Saturday 9th November. This is taking place from 2-5pm on Bay Campus. Universities are encouraged to bring both archers and coaches along for an afternoon of high quality coaching and a LOT of fun! There is a small fee of £2 per archer to cover hall hire costs. Spaces are limited to 40 archers, so clubs are advised to send a list of those interested to Matt Walker asap please!
The next SWWU leg is being co-hosted by Aberystwyth (Saturday 23rd November) and Plymouth (Sunday 24th November). All Welsh universities will be competing in Aberystwyth and all English universities will be heading to Plymouth.
Updated league tables can be found here
Updated record tables can be found here
Complete results can be found here
