Judging by what happened over the weekend at Kingspark in Durban it would seem as if the Tuks archers fine-tuned the art of hitting the bull.

Wian Roux set a new South African record in the recurve cadet division with his score of 665. In doing so, he made sure of winning gold. It also means that the Tuks archer has qualified to represent South Africa at the Junior World Championships. Last year he represented South Africa at the Youth Olympic Games.

Reuben Brent-Meek became only the third South African compound archer to shoot a score of 710 out of a possible 720. The only two others archers to have done so are Patrick Roux who is also a Tuks archer and Gabriel Badenhorst from the Free State.

Brent-Meek’s previous best score was 708 which he shot last year December also in Durban. 

“When I am competing I totally shut off from everything that is happening around me. All that matters is to ensure that I do everything to perfection with each arrow I am shooting.  But it takes its toll. After shooting 710, I was physically as well as mentally drained.”

However, Brent-Meek is not going to give himself any respite as he is his own hard taskmaster.

“The challenge now is to prove that the past weekend was no fluke. I am competing on Saturday again at Tuks, and my goal will be to shoot another score of 710 or at least get as close to it as possible,” explained the 20-year old archer.

Last year he represented South Africa at two World Cup Competitions. He considers his 9th place finish in Turkey as not to bad, but then again Brent-Meek also believes what was good enough for today won’t be tomorrow. His goal is to qualify to represent South Africa at the World Championships.

That is what motivates him to train every day for up to three hours shooting approximately 250 arrows. Considering that holding to maintain the bow and arrow in a constant position during a full draw just before the release roughly equates every time to a 25kg strain on his body means it is quite a strenuous training session. But for him, it is all just in a day’s work.

Seppie Cilliers equalled the South African compound record with his score of 150 out of 150. Getting to hit the bull during an elimination competition 15 times in a row certainly gives new meaning to accurate shooting and proves that the Tuks archer has nerves of steel. He is also only the third South African archer to do so.

Earlier this year Tuks’s Paralympian, Shaun Anderson, made sure of qualifying for the World Championships in the Netherlands.