“Perhaps some of the other barebow archers took their foot off the gas, but we didn’t. We did a lot of quality training. It’s hard to find a decent field course, but in terms of our regular day-in, day-out practice, we did a lot. In the end, we were a long way ahead of everyone,” said Simon.
“However, the day after that selection event was when I was interviewed for the head coach’s role. And that changed everything.”
Simon interviewed for – and was later appointed to – the head coach role of the Australian Olympic archery team in May 2025. The couple moved over 1000 kilometres from Adelaide to Canberra, where the Australian Institute of Sport is based.
On top of the chaos of moving house, there was still plenty of archery.
“We had a selection event for our target team, our recurve team had a national camp, we’ve had two World Cups, I’ve been overseas a number of times, we’ve been back and forwards and we’ve hardly seen our bows,” Simon said.
The past two weeks have been “an exercise in cramming,” but the World Games remains a huge goal for both.
“It’s a big deal for me because this is our only opportunity to shoot barebow in a multisport event,” said Nicky. “I’ve never actually shot a full 12-and-12 mixed round of unmarked and marked before.”
“What a cool thing that we’re going to be able to compete at an event with literally the best of the best. It’s the premier event for compound target, barebow field and recurve field. Obviously compound has changed slightly because it’s now going to be in LA [at the Olympics].”
