‘Bullseye’ firmly on the prize

TIME flies like an arrow for Neve Quail, a record-breaking archer and Grade 10 learner from Durban Girls’ High School. After taking up the sport just four years ago, Neve has already broken five national records.

“Last year was my first Outdoor National and probably also my best year to date. I won indoor and outdoor nationals and was ranked first in all archery categories I competed in. I also managed to break five national records (some of which I broke multiple time through the season) and set an African record,” said Quail.

Neve (15) is currently shooting in the U18 category.

“I’m ranked first in all categories I shoot in. I won gold in the Indoor National Event, silver at a very tough Outdoor National, and set four Outdoor National records. I was also spotted by Magnum Archery to which I’m now a team shooter,” she said.

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Neve first tried her hand at archery through a Scout event and hasn’t looked back since.
“It was a fun evening with my Scouts group, and archery was one of the activities presented. I fell in love with the sport and never looked back,” said Neve.

Now she trains at least three times a week, depending on school commitments.
“Training starts off with scratching and warm-ups, followed by about 100 arrows per training session,” she said.

Strength training is also required, which adds to Neve’s training regime, along with skill training.

“You have to have stamina and strength to do archery – especially back strength to be able to pull the 32-pound draw I shoot. On the evenings, I don’t physically shoot; I do exercises to help with muscle memory and form. For outdoor shooting, I concentrate on practising bow cantering to help with windy conditions, and with indoor practice, I concentrate on form and accuracy,” she added.

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In archery, draw weight or poundage refers to the force needed to draw the bow. Every bow has a specific draw weight, and Neve shoots with an Olympic Recurve Style bow and a 32½ pound draw.

“I started off with a standard bow, which is like a Recurve but without stabilisers and a lower poundage. After about a year of using the standard bow, I moved up to Recurve bows because I would like to shoot in the Olympics one day,” she explained.

She hopes to compete in the Outdoor World Champions and then go to the Olympics.

We asked Neve a few fun questions …

If I had a super power it would be … invisibility.
When I’m not competing in archery, I like to … play basketball, hockey and draw.
A highlight in my archery career would be … achieving National Colours and National records.

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