RAC, RA & AAC BIATHLON CHAMPIONSHIPS - Ex WHITE FIST – 1 - 9 JAN 1

SAC Pointer - 4 x 7.5km Relay

The RAF Regt Nordic Ski Team finished its training camps in Dec 10 having completed the best part of 3 months Nordic ski training in Europe and in the New Year the team moved into the competition phase of the tour. The first competition of four, which is commonly known as the friendly games, was where the Team would compete at the RAC Championships - Ex WHITE FIST - held at a Hochfilzen, a World Championship circuit in Austria. The aim of the competition - to gauge the athletes progress and prepare the Team for the National Championships. Although WHITE FIST was a competition, the Team would take days out of the racing fixture to conduct its own training in areas the coach (Sgt Carrier) identified more attention was required. Furthermore, the coach needed to ensure the athletes did not burn out prior to the Nationals. The Team competed in two events of three at Hochfilzen, which included a pursuit race - 7.5km classic race in the morning and 6.5km free technique in the afternoon - on the Tuesday and a Biathlon relay on the Friday. When the Team was not racing it continued to conduct individual and coached ski training as well as both dry and live shooting training and equally importantly, quality rest. After the first race of the competition the Team was looking strong, in the pursuit race Sgt Carrier continued to impress, coming in 3^rd overall, SAC Sinclair 13^th overall and the first Senior Novice across the line, with Meer not far behind and the 1^st Veteran Novice. The Team standings after the first day of racing placed the RAF Regt team 2^nd overall behind 1 RTR, a full time Team with GB and National Development Squad athletes - the RAF Regt, already punching well above its weight with a Novice Team. The Biathlon Relay was raced on the final day with 27 Teams competing in a 4 x 7.5km Biathlon. This was the first time the Team would compete in a Biathlon and was a valuable learning experience. Sinclair took a heavy crash on this technical course, breaking his rifle and the Team learnt the importance of marksmanship at the range, learning not to rush whilst on the range – but equally importantly not wasting time. The Regt Team, a Team of three novices and the coach again demonstrated its strength and depth of quality, placing 2^nd overall behind 1 RTR. Despite the Team not competing in the Biathlon Sprint on the Thursday the Regt Team had enough points to place 6^th overall after a week of racing and training, an excellent start to the season.