MALUA Bay resident and Eurobodalla Archery Club member Peter Hearne has returned from the United States as the newly crowned Junior Bowhunter Unlimited World Champion.
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The 15-year-old St Peter’s Anglican College student travelled with the Australian Field Archery Team to compete in the International Field Archery Association (IFAA) World Championships at Yankton, South Dakota.
Archers from 17 other countries travelled to the five-day event held at the world class, indoor and outdoor National Field Archers Association facility which also has 90 acres of field ranges for the competition.
Hearne was a late but welcome inclusion to the Aussie team after his three titles at the Australian Championships earlier in the year.
As the number one ranked junior ABA archer in the country expectations were high with none so more than from his coach, Australian archery legend, and multiple world champion, Roy Rose.
“I knew Peter would be a world champion from the beginning, only 18 months ago when he shot with me for the first time,” it was just a question of when,” Rose said.
Hearne led from the first day and along the way he shot three personal best (PB) scores which included a perfect round of 560.
“As an athlete I am always looking to improve so to shoot a PB in each of the three different rounds, and then to finally get a perfect 560 from 560 in the animal round, I couldn’t be happier,” Hearne said.
In just his second year of the sport, Hearne has added a victory on American soil against the toughest opponents in his age group.
Hearne competed in five six-hour rounds over five days.
Hearne displayed his stamina, endurance and ability to maintain focus to win the world championship.
“Peter trained six days a week leading up to the event,” a proud father Andrew Hearne said.
The win adds a world title to his swag of branch titles, state titles and national titles.
Three days after he returned from the World Championships, Hearne added his second NSW 3D title.
Hearne praised his sponsors for helping him add to his repertoire as he makes the transition to senior grades.
“Thanks to my sponsors’ support I will be shooting some other forms of archery and I am changing bow type to shoot freestyle for IFAA and FITA,” Hearne said.
“This is in preparation to compete as a senior at the 2016 IFAA World Championships at Wagga Wagga.”
While archery is an individual sport it has been a team effort to achieve the rainbow strips of a world champion.
Hearne praised his parents, family, friends, sponsors, Roy Rose, Eurobodalla Archery Club, South East Regional Academy of Sport and the Australia Bowhunters Association F Branch for helping him achieve his dreams.