Gaby targets way up at Games

GABY Ahrens cried rivers of tears when she performed poorly at the 2006 Commonwealth Games’ clay target trap shooting competition, but she has since gotten her act together and in less than one-and-a-half weeks, she will be off to China for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Her father and coach, Hasso Ahrens, saw her tears, sat her down and told her she was not ripe yet, but promised to get her into good shape for the next best thing which happened to be the Olympic Games. He stayed true to his promise, and now Gaby is one of only 10 Namibians going to represent the country at the 2008 Olympic Games.And she is the only shooter in the group.Certainly a remarkable feat, considering she only started shooting five years ago.Coached by her father Hasso, who is also a formidable shooter and former star soccer player in his younger days, Gaby qualified for the Beijing Olympics in February this year through a wild card awarded to her by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).The ISSF must have realised her potential after she scooped silver at the African Shooting Championships held in Egypt in 2007.That was her first medal.Nampa recently caught up with Gaby and her shooting family at one of their favourite hang-out spots – the Windhoek Clay Target Club – situated at the Leopards Valley Army Base, south of Windhoek.Her brother Sven is also a top shooter, while mom Diane does not shoot often, but does the scorekeeping.In between shooting the bright orange clay discs, Gaby told Nampa that she is excited about making her debut at the Olympic Games, and is practising every day to improve her shooting skills.Gaby recently returned from a two-week training session in Australia, where she fine-tuned her skills through expert advice from Greg Chan, who is regarded as the best clay target shooting coach in the world.Chan also coached Michael Diamond, a professional target shooter from Australia, who won the Olympic gold medal at both the Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000) Olympics.Gaby’s training in Australia took place in rainy conditions, which she says taught her to shoot under any circumstances.Back home, her training programme was interrupted with the closure of the shooting range at Oropoko Lodge, situated about 40 km west of Okahandja, because of a fault with the trap (target launching) machines.It is the only shooting range in Namibia of international standard, but since its closure, Gaby has now been forced to continue her training in neighbouring South Africa.She will depart for South Africa this week to train for one week, and to also participate in the South African Championships on 26 July.The competition is only for men, but she has been granted an opportunity to shoot against them, something she hopes will add to her competitive edge.Locally, Gaby is one of only three women out of 35 shooters in the country, but she is ranked second in Africa behind South Africa’s Diane Swanton.Swanton beat her to the gold medal during the 2007 African Shooting Championships in Egypt.Gaby and Swanton will also be Africa’s only representatives during the Olympics’ trap shooting competition, where only 18 women will participate.The 27-year-old Gaby is optimistic that she could still go far in the sport, saying she is still “green” and noting that the prime age for women shooters is between 32 and 35 years.Asked why she took up the sport so “late”, Gaby said she preferred show-jumping, but had to give it up when she went for studies in South Africa.Born and bred in Namibia, Gaby finished her formal education at the then Deutsche Ober Schule Windhoek (now Delta Secondary school) and pursued further studies in sales and marketing in South Africa.She graduated, and returned to work at her family business that provides shade nets.Gaby said shooting is her passion, but she recently took up golf, not only to be closer to fiancé Gielie van Wyk, but also to relax.Van Wyk also shares Gaby’s love for shooting, and also shoots regularly.On Beijing, Gaby said she is worried about the pollution, adding that although it does not affect her shooting, it does have an effect on her health.She experienced the bad air quality already when she participated in the Test World Cup in China in April this year, saying she retuned home with a blocked nose.On her competition in Beijing, Gaby said it is anyone’s chance to win on the day.NampaHe stayed true to his promise, and now Gaby is one of only 10 Namibians going to represent the country at the 2008 Olympic Games.And she is the only shooter in the group.Certainly a remarkable feat, considering she only started shooting five years ago.Coached by her father Hasso, who is also a formidable shooter and former star soccer player in his younger days, Gaby qualified for the Beijing Olympics in February this year through a wild card awarded to her by the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF).The ISSF must have realised her potential after she scooped silver at the African Shooting Championships held in Egypt in 2007.That was her first medal.Nampa recently caught up with Gaby and her shooting family at one of their favourite hang-out spots – the Windhoek Clay Target Club – situated at the Leopards Valley Army Base, south of Windhoek.Her brother Sven is also a top shooter, while mom Diane does not shoot often, but does the scorekeeping.In between shooting the bright orange clay discs, Gaby told Nampa that she is excited about making her debut at the Olympic Games, and is practising every day to improve her shooting skills.Gaby recently returned from a two-week training session in Australia, where she fine-tuned her skills through expert advice from Greg Chan, who is regarded as the best clay target shooting coach in the world.Chan also coached Michael Diamond, a professional target shooter from Australia, who won the Olympic gold medal at both the Atlanta (1996) and Sydney (2000) Olympics.Gaby’s training in Australia took place in rainy conditions, which she says taught her to shoot under any circumstances.Back home, her training programme was interrupted with the closure of the shooting range at Oropoko Lodge, situated about 40 km west of Okahandja, because of a fault with the trap (target launching) machines.It is the only shooting range in Namibia of international standard, but since its closure, Gaby has now been forced to continue her training in neighbouring South Africa.She will depart for South Africa this week to train for one week, and to also participate in the South African Championships on 26 July.The competition is only for men, but she has been granted an opportunity to shoot against them, something she hopes will add to her competitive edge.Locally, Gaby is one of only three women out of 35 shooters in the country, but she is ranked second in Africa behind South Africa’s Diane Swanton.Swanton beat her to the gold medal during the 2007 African Shooting Championships in Egypt.Gaby and Swanton will also be Africa’s only representatives during the Olympics’ trap shooting competition, where only 18 women will participate.The 27-year-old Gaby is optimistic that she could still go far in the sport, saying she is still “green” and noting that the prime age for women shooters is between 32 and 35 years.Asked why she took up the sport so “late”, Gaby said she preferred show-jumping, but had to give it up when she went for studies in South Africa.Born and bred in Namibia, Gaby finished her formal education at the then Deutsche Ober Schule Windhoek (now Delta Secondary school) and pursued further studies in sales and marketing in South Africa.She graduated, and returned to work at her family business that provides shade nets.Gaby said shooting is her passion, but she recently took up golf, not only to be closer to fiancé Gielie van Wyk, but also to relax.Van Wyk also shares Gaby’s love for shooting, and also shoots regularly.On Beijing, Gaby said she is worried about the pollution, adding that although it does not affect her shooting, it does have an effect on her health.She experienced the bad air quality already when she participated in the Test World Cup in China in April this year, saying she retuned home with a blocked nose.On her competition in Beijing, Gaby said it is anyone’s chance to win on the day.Nampa