John Snowden has been selected in the New Zealand team for this year’s Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. Photo Ashburton GuardianAshburton sharpshooter, John Snowden, is packing his bags for the Gold Coast and the Commonwealth Games.

The local farmer was one of an 11-strong squad named for the Games, which are held from April 8 to April 14, by Shooting New Zealand yesterday.

After a lengthy selection process and trials, getting the nod that he would be heading to his fourth Commonwealth Games was a big result for the former gold medallist as a couple of years ago he wondered if his top-level shooting days were numbered.

“It’s satisfying because of the amount of time and effort that has gone in to getting there,” Snowden said yesterday.

Snowden has been chosen to compete in the individual fullbore and also the fullbore pairs in which he will turn back the clock 12 years.

The 49-year-old’s pairs partner is Brian Carter from Whakatane who he competed in the same event with at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006.

The squad includes shooting superstar Natalie Rooney and also comprises of an experienced line up of shooters.

“It’s a good squad, there’s a lot of shooters in there who have been around and know what it’s all about and obviously having someone like Natalie there is great too – she’s going really well.”

While rigorous and time intensive, Snowden said the process to get selected was something he actually enjoyed as it gave him a strong indication of where he was at with his form.

“We’ve been able to put ourselves in a whole lot of different scenarios and get a measure on where we are shooting.

“There’s been training camps in Australia where we have been training next to the Australian shooters so it’s good to be able to compare.”

Not only has the training intensified but Snowden’s had to also deal with himself changing as well.

Shooting at the elite level isn’t as easy as lining up and shooting and in his own words, age is starting to provide a few more challenges.

“The eyesight is constantly changing as I get older it seems, which means using new lenses.

“The insidious part about that though is it’s not something you can actually see change, the only way you know is through your scores.

“If your scores are improving, you know you are using the right lens – it’s not much of a difference, but it can be all the difference.”

Between now and heading to Australia to compete, not much will change for Snowden.

There’s harvest to worry about and then next week he’s off, along with a number of other Ashburton shooters, to the National Championships in Wellington at the same venue where the World Championships will be held in 2019.

“I’ve been pretty busy with the farm that I have really only just started to think about taking some ammo out.

“Nationals is always a big week, but I’m taking it this year as an opportunity to train and try and fine tune things a bit.

“It is still a competition but a few of us are planning to get together on a couple of the days and train together.

“Brian and I have a day blocked out to get together which will be good because obviously there’s not a lot of opportunities in between normal life and everything else.”

Snowden’s appearance on the Gold Coast will be his fourth consecutive games where he will be out to at least equal his best effort of the gold medal he achieved in the pairs in 2010 at the Delhi games.

Matt Markham © The Ashburton Guardian - 18 January 2018