Sharp-shooting Brighton students become top-ranked women in the country at senior and under 21 levels

Two student rifle shooters at the University have become the top ranked women in the country at senior and under-21 levels.

Graihagh Guille – a first-year PhD student doing research in the University’s Centre for Aquatic Environments – followed winning the Women’s 50m three-position English Championships in May by winning the British championship title early in June, then coming second in the open Welsh Championship.

Three-position involves firing 20 shots in the kneeling, prone (lying down) and standing positions at a 1cm bull, 50m away. It is the main Olympic shooting discipline, where weather conditions can provide an extra challenge, such as wind blowing bullets around in flight.

Graihagh took up .22 calibre shooting just a few years ago when she was 17, inspired by her father Matthew Guille, a Commonwealth and European medallist who still shoots for the GB team. She is now a member of both the England rifle development academy and the Great Britain development squad.

Graihagh Guille shows off her championship medals.

In addition to Graihagh’s success at the English Championship event, undergraduate Maria Luke – studying Pharmacy – came 1st in the England women’s U21 air rifle event, where 60 shots are fired on an indoor range at 10m.

Both Graihagh and Maria are supported with elite performance sport scholarships, which include free access to facilities and coaching, financial help, plus access to workshops in areas such as nutrition, fitness training, technique analysis and sports psychology.

Graihagh said: “Target shooting is not a sport that many people have heard of despite its place in the Olympics and Commonwealth Games – although it has been dropped for the upcoming Games in Birmingham, despite having many tens of thousands of competitors in the UK.

“I was instantly hooked, and the peaceful and repetitive nature of the sport became like a meditative outlet from academic work. Throughout my undergraduate degree I found it difficult to balance playing netball, uni work and shooting and so my training suffered. Brighton is the first university I have attended which has offered me a sport scholarship, and I am extremely grateful for the support I have received.”

If you’d like to find out more about rifle shooting as a sport, find your local club via the NSRA website: www.nsra.co.uk