Pte Tim Lowndes, 5/6RVR, sets his sights on gold at the Athens Olympics.

Photo by Capt Ian Toohill, 4 Bde

Shot for gold
A soldier aims for Olympic glory

By Capt Ian Toohill

SHOOTING champion Pte Tim Lowndes will be aiming for gold when he represents Australia at the Athens Olympic.

Pte Lowndes is partof a team of four competing in the small-bore .22 rifle and .177 Air rifile events.

Currently posted to 5/6RVR, his love for the sport began at the age of 12, when he started competing at club level.

Within four years he had graduated to national level and it was not long before he was noticed by selectors and invited to join the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), which he did in 1998 after completing year 12.

As part of the residential program, he "lived and breathed" shooting.

Pte Lowndes competed in the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, where he won gold in the three-postiton individual match, silver in the prone teams match and bronze in the three-postition teams match.

Right on target for the Olympics

HE WENT on to compete in the Sydney Olympics, finishing in the top third of his field of 60 competitors.

Pte Lowndes enlisted in May 2001, with a posting to 1RAR.

Trying to juggle two careers, he was forced to put competitive shooting on hold when deployed to Butterworth in 2002, and East Timor in 2003.

His new career didn’t stop him from winning two gold, one silver and one bronze medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games.

In 2004 Pte Lowndes was posted to 5/6RVR so he could regularly train with his Olympic coach.

He is currently on a scholarship with the AIS, which covers all his costs. Pte Lowndes said the move had been critical to his chance of competing in Athens.

“I am very thankful to the Army for posting me to 5/6RVR,” he said. “The time they have given me has been instrumental in improving my scores.

“In the recent Olympic qualifications I scored 596 out of a possible 600 in the prone position, hitting the bulls eye 56 times out of 60 and the nine ring four times. I was quite pleased with that.”

Pte Lowndes goes into the Olympics as National Champion, beating his nearest opponent by 15 points. He trained regularly at the Frankston 50m range and it has paid off.

“I feel good about my current performance although a little nervous about what lies ahead.

“I am confident I can further improve my world ranking and I should finish in the top 10.”

Watching as Pte Lowndes practiced at the range, it was obvious that an intense amount of mental rehearsal, energy and discipline is required to perform at this level.

“I mentally check all inner-body positions and visualise the shot before firing,” he said.

“I rehearse everything from breathing and trigger release to recoil.” It’s worth noting that according to Pte Lowndes, the Army marksmanship principles are identical to those practiced at the highest international competition.

“I find it a bit ironic that as a machine gunner in the infantry, I have 800 rounds to hit the target.” Pte Lowndes will return to Australia on September 1.