In our latest episode, we’re joined by a two-time Olympian and world champion who takes us through his incredible journey to the Olympics for a second time. He shares insights into the rigorous qualification process and reflects on his victory at the 2022 World Championships in Croatia. Tune in for an insider's perspective on earning a coveted spot on the USA Shooting Team, as well as a discussion about the Paris Olympics and all that comes with it.
Speaker 1: You are now listening to the Shotgun Sports USA
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Speaker 3: My guest today is a two-time Olympian in trap, a
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multi-time world champion and a two-time sporting clays national
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champion, just to name a few.
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His achievements have made him a household name in the sport.
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Please welcome to the show.
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Hey, glad to be here.
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Yeah, man, I'm glad to have you on.
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I was watching you on TV it seemed like just about a week
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ago and I think you did a pretty good job over there in Paris.
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Yeah, you know, I can't complain a whole lot.
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Speaker 4: Um, I, uh.
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I went on a pretty big run just to get in that final and you
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know, when you make a big run like that it uses up a lot of
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fuel.
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I didn't have anything left there towards the end.
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Speaker 3: What, so tell me how all this worked.
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Okay, you first off.
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Let's talk about how you got there.
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We've talked about this before, but there's people listening
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that probably didn't listen to the other episode.
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How did you get to the Olympics ?
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Speaker 4: Um.
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The first step was we had to win a country quota slot.
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Um, and I did that at the 22 world championships in Croatia.
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Um, and I did that at the 22 world championships in Croatia,
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Um.
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When I finished in the top four there, that got us a spot for
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our country to be represented at the Olympic game.
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Okay, and then from there I had to become eligible for the
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Olympic games, which meant I had to start in two world ranking
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points qualifying events, so a World Cup or World Championships
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, continental Championships, anything that's basically ran by
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the ISS.
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I had to have two starts and at one of those I had to earn some
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ranking points, which I did that as well when I won the
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world championships, Um, so that that made me eligible for the
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Olympic games.
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And then after that, I had to win our Olympic trial, which was
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500 targets split over two matches that were like eight
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months apart, 10 months apart.
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Speaker 3: Hmm, that's way more complicated than sporting clays.
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I mean, so you went to Croatia, won this championship that
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earned the U S a spot, but didn't earn you a spot and earn
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somebody a spot if you didn't make it.
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Speaker 4: Yes, yep.
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Speaker 3: Wouldn't that make you mad, if you didn't go?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, well, you know, on the other side of it, in
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2020 for Tokyo, I took someone else's quota that they had won.
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Ah, so it kind of it.
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It works both ways.
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Yeah, so if, if we just let you keep the quota that you earn,
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then I would not have gone to Tokyo.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, that's true.
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Well, that's just, that's crazy how that works and how it all,
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how much you have to shoot and trap just to get, just to win
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something.
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You know, we we talked about this the grand American.
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I mean, how, how how many targets do you have to straight
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to win the grand?
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Speaker 4: Um, if you're talking about the clay target
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championships, which is the 16 yard single championship, um,
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it's gone as many as like 900 and some targets straight.
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It's crazy.
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So it's totally different game than olympic track, for sure,
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yeah, but um, you still still got to shoot a lot yeah, so you
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get over to paris.
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Speaker 3: And have you been to paris before?
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Yeah, okay.
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So I guess you kind of knew what to expect as far as paris
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is concerned.
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But what about the olympics hat ?
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When you got there, what did they have like a welcoming
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committee standing by the airplane?
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Speaker 4: when you got off, um, kind of they had.
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Uh, when we got off the plane we had a uh, our own route that
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we followed.
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That walked us to where we got our credentials certified and,
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uh, that credential was our access to anything involved with
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the Olympic team.
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Speaker 3: I guess that's.
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That's kind of a welcoming committee, I mean you get you
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know.
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Speaker 4: And then once once I got through that and did the
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passport check and all that good stuff um then S Olympic
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Committee, they had a guy there to help us find all our bags and
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help us with any lost bags or anything like that.
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So we did have a team there to help us through with all that
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stuff.
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And then from there we went to the Welcome Center for Team USA
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and that's where we did the welcome experience, where we got
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to try on all the outfits and stuff that we were given by Nike
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and Ralph Lauren for opening ceremonies, medal ceremonies,
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all that kind of stuff, which was really cool.
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We didn't get to do that in Tokyo because of COVID, yeah, so
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that was a really, really cool experience.
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And they had they had mirrors with holographic images in it
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that said had your name and welcome to welcome to the team.
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Speaker 3: And I saw that online .
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I didn't know what that was.
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That a mirror?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, it was just a mirror that had little LEDs
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lights in it.
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Speaker 3: That's cool.
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Speaker 4: Now I know what it is .
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Speaker 3: I don't know about the clothing being too cool, but
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I mean, that's what you expect when you go to the Olympics.
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Speaker 4: You know a lot of it.
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This go-around was pretty good and it's stuff that I'll wear
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and use for quite a while, but there is some of it that's
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pretty hideous.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I saw it.
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I was like, oh, I don't know if I'd have fit in any of that
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stuff, but anyway, so you get over there and you go to the
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welcoming committee.
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What do you do then?
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Do you have to like, do you go to your room and stay there for
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a while, or you practice, or what do you do?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, so we got on a bus or a van and took a four
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hour road trip to um, the town of shadow roof, where our the
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range was at, in our satellite village, and uh, so then after
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that, then the next day, we, uh, we were able to go out and
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start practicing and all that fun stuff.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, I bet that's.
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That's fun.
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I mean, do you you get to talk to all the people that's in
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there?
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Well, if they speak English, I'm assuming all the people
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competing with you.
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I mean it's okay.
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Speaker 4: Oh yeah, yeah, for the most part, um, everybody can
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communicate a little bit through English.
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Yeah, so it's.
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It's, but for the most part, everybody that's competing in
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the current I don't know what you want to call it contingency
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of shooters, they're all genuinely pretty good guys, kind
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of like Ford and Clay's here in the US.
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It's a good group of guys and everybody's cordial and gets
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along and everybody's cordial and gets along, and for the most
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part they're not really afraid to talk about shooting or how
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they approach things and it's kind of a nice environment.
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Speaker 3: Do you all hang out together over there?
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Speaker 4: Not a lot.
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We will a little bit with the Aussies or the Brits, but not a
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too terrible amount.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, so last, what was it in 2020 when you went?
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Is that right?
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Speaker 4: Yeah, it ended up being 21 because of the one-year
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delay from COVID.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, so you finished where in 2021?
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Speaker 4: 24.
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Speaker 3: And now you're fifth.
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You finished fifth.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, let's go around .
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Speaker 3: So let me ask you this Is there plans going
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forward to do it again?
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Speaker 4: You know I was already kind of planning to do
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it another four years, because in 28 it's in LA.
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So that was kind of the end goal initially anyway, was to
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try and and compete it at three Olympics, the last one being at
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LA.
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Um, but as close as I got this go around, it wouldn't have
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mattered where where the games were at I was, I I'd be out
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there trying it again.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah.
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Well, it sounds like you're making some progress, for sure.
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What did you learn, uh, this time, versus what you did last
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time?
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What was a difference?
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Were you more comfortable or did you figure something out?
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What was the difference?
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Speaker 4: I was definitely more confident.
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I had built a lot of confidence over the last two or three
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years in my ability to compete at the world level and I think
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that was the biggest difference for me was having that
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experience of winning at the world level.
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It was like knowing that, hey, I can go do this.
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So that was the biggest part for me.
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And then having my family there , that was really awesome and it
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kind of gave me that extra little boost that you need
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sometimes to compete at your best.
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Um it just knowing that they were back there watching you
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kind of don't want to, you know, you don't want to miss because
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you don't want to let them down, kind of thing, you know, even
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though they're just happy to be there watching, um, it was
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definitely a little extra motivation.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, did you do anything else while you were
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there other than shoot?
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Did you go see anything else?
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Speaker 4: We walked through the Louvre and around kind of the
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main Olympic Village area a little bit went to the Team USA
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house um the day before we left and that was kind of cool.
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Speaker 3: What is that?
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Speaker 4: It's a, a building that the U S Olympic committee
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rented, um using sponsors to uh to have just a house dedicated
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to team USA, um, that people could buy tickets to go visit
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and they had their own floor and it had a store with Team USA
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gear, and then there was an upper story that was for
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athletes and their guests that they brought in and they had
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food and drinks.
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You know, it was just a cool experience, yeah.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, it sounds like it, and you're going to get to
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do it again, or try to do it again at least.
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So, is competing at a Olympic level.
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Is there how much?
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I don't know if you can describe it or not, but how much
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more pressure is it on, say like world fee task?
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Is there a big difference in the pressure?
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Speaker 4: I think there is Um and I think it stems from you
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know it's a once every four year possibility at best, um, to get
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that opportunity to win Olympic medals.
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So it's such a small number of opportunities that you might
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have in a career, Like if you do it for a long time you might.
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You might get six opportunities .
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Yeah, um, you know there's a few people that have done done
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more than that, but um, it's just such a limited amount of
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times you get to go that it's.
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It adds a whole nother level of pressure yeah, um, we were
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talking about this also.
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Speaker 3: Uh, trap, like you go shoot trap at a gun club
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somewhere, how much different what you're shooting is versus
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ata trap.
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Kind of describe the differences real quick on what?
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Speaker 4: you're shooting in ata.
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So ata is just a single trap that oscillates side to side.
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It's always the same height and always the same speed, roughly
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40-42 miles an hour.
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In Olympic trap.
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The machines are set at different heights and you have
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angles as wide as 45 degrees to the left and 45 degrees to the
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right, and then your straightaway target is plus or
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minus 15 degrees depending on the setting, and the target base
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has to go 76 meters at the height that it's set at, and
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that could be anywhere from 60 to 65 66 miles an hour,
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depending on where in the world you're at.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, you got me when you said I didn't know that
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they changed elevations yeah, yeah, they're not all the same
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height, oh well, yeah, I'd have been out first target, I'd have
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been out.
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Uh, the guy on tv was saying that you know, some of these
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guys figure out the pattern.
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Maybe am I saying that right of the targets um, yes and no.
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Speaker 4: Um, you know, over the course of a round you're
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going to get two less two rights and one straight away off each
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post.
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Now you shoot a target and rotate, so it's kind of hard.
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You can't really just sit there and remember the due process of
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elimination unless you try and keep track of the whole round,
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which can get to be a lot.
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Um, and you should, in theory, know your last five a lot of
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times.
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If you really keep in track, you'll know like seven of your
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last 10.
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Speaker 3: Hmm, I don't know how you would know that, especially
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over there.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, you know, it's just you like.
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For me, if one post has a really really hard wide angle
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target, um, I can usually keep track of that.
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No, when I either got that left or that target is gone and so
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that gives by process of elimination, I'll I'll kind of
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know what some of my last pass the targets are, but I don't I
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don't fret too hard about trying to keep track other than the
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really hard ones the, the last day that I watched you shoot.
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Speaker 3: Uh, what did you miss ?
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What target did you miss?
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Speaker 4: um, that was, uh, it was like a 20 degree left, um,
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so not a very wide angle.
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The very last target um, that was my 30th target in the final
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um put me in a tie with the guy from guatemala and I lost the
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tiebreaker to move on yeah well, hey, you got fifth and there's
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not a lot of people say they did , they can't even go the
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olympics.
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Speaker 3: So I mean you know that's the Olympics.
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So I mean you know that's.
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Speaker 4: I think it's a great job.
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So you know, one cool thing is, I was the first American to
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make the final at the Olympic game since 2004,.
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Uh, when Lance Bade did it Um.
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Speaker 3: I want to say they said that.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, so he.
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So Lance is the last American to make a final until I did in
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men's trap.
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Speaker 3: I didn't realize that that was the case.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, we've had more or less 20 years of kind of
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sucking hind tit, I guess.
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Speaker 3: Who is there?
00:16:10
A dominating country in trap Is there a dominating country in
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trap.
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Speaker 4: You know, um, for a long time the Italians were
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pretty good, but pretty much everybody in Europe, um, is
00:16:23
pretty, pretty hard to beat.
00:16:24
Yeah, um, it everybody's got one or two guys that, at any
00:16:30
given time, can pop you a big score.
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Yeah, can get hot in the final.
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Um, yeah, which is really what it takes.
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Um, you gotta gotta get lightning in a bottle If you, uh
00:16:42
, if you really want to want to win the final, I mean,
00:16:46
everything has to fall, just perfect for you.
00:16:48
Speaker 3: Yeah.
00:16:48
So, the guy that won uh, I didn't know this, but everyone
00:16:59
that shoots sporting clays probably knows who his relative
00:17:01
is yeah, what so the guy that won?
00:17:02
What's his name?
00:17:02
Uh nathan hale and he's related to john woolley yeah, he is
00:17:07
john woolley's nephew how about that that's crazy.
00:17:12
He was on it too.
00:17:13
Let me tell you.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, you know.
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So he.
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He also holds the world record in the final Um.
00:17:19
Last year in Italy he broke 49 out of 50.
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Um, to set the world record for a final.
00:17:26
And then what do you have?
00:17:28
48 out of 50.
00:17:29
It's at the Olympic record.
00:17:31
Yeah, it's crazy.
00:17:32
I think the pre the previous Olympic record was 43.
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Speaker 3: Wow, when was that set?
00:17:38
Do you have any idea?
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Speaker 4: Tokyo.
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Speaker 3: Okay, that's a big difference too, man you think
00:17:45
about it.
00:17:45
Yeah, it's a huge difference, especially in trap.
00:17:48
Well, you know, by the time you were doing all this, I kept
00:17:52
seeing ads pop up on Facebook of a signature edition shooting
00:17:57
glasses.
00:17:57
I guess you work with Ari Ranger on what's, what's all
00:18:00
that about.
00:18:01
Tell me how that came about and what it is about.
00:18:04
Speaker 4: You know when, when I started talking with him about
00:18:07
about using their product, um, the one thing that I told him
00:18:10
that I really liked to have is a couple of different colors,
00:18:14
different colors that were not in their normal lineup, and so
00:18:17
they came up with the idea.
00:18:19
They said, hey, why don't we just make a Derek mine signature
00:18:22
series and you develop the, the new colors, with our engineers?
00:18:26
And so we came out with the, with the dark amber and the
00:18:30
light amber, and they're uh, they're a brown with kind of a
00:18:34
red base, whereas the other brown lenses that ranger had
00:18:39
were more of an orange base okay , so you can, can you?
00:18:45
Speaker 3: how do you get these lenses in these?
00:18:46
So if you buy like a just a standard set of rangers, you're
00:18:49
going to get their standard lenses, but you have to buy buy
00:18:53
your edition to get the different colors.
00:18:56
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think at this time you have to buy my
00:18:58
signature kit.
00:18:59
Okay, they were going to use that as kind of a test run to
00:19:05
see how they went in the market.
00:19:06
So far I think it's been a home run.
00:19:09
Everybody I've talked to that's tried them has absolutely loved
00:19:12
them, so I would assume that moving forward it will become a
00:19:18
part of their normal lineup.
00:19:19
But yeah, at this moment in time they're available in the
00:19:24
Falcon Pro, and so it also comes with a blue case and then a
00:19:33
custom lens cloth that has a Derek mine logo as well as my
00:19:38
signature on it.
00:19:39
Speaker 3: Is it your real signature, Derek?
00:19:40
I saw that.
00:19:42
Speaker 4: It is.
00:19:44
Speaker 3: Does it come with blinders, cause I noticed you
00:19:46
were wearing those too.
00:19:48
Speaker 4: No, it doesn't come with blinders.
00:19:50
Speaker 3: Does that help you out that much?
00:19:53
Speaker 4: Um, for me I have, uh , if I get light shining in
00:19:58
backlighting my right eye, um it , for whatever reason, it causes
00:20:03
my left eye to take over.
00:20:05
So that's that's why I wear the blinder when I'm shooting trap,
00:20:09
just to eliminate that from happening.
00:20:11
Speaker 3: Ah, my son asked me.
00:20:13
He says why do they have those things on their glasses?
00:20:14
I said he don't want to see the person next to him.
00:20:16
I didn't know.
00:20:19
Speaker 4: Most of the guys are wearing them because at
00:20:22
Crapfield, all we faced was north.
00:20:24
What it does is it allows you to wear a lighter lens and keep
00:20:29
it dark enough around your eyes so you're not squinting, which
00:20:33
will allow you a more clear picture of what the target is
00:20:37
doing.
00:20:38
Speaker 3: Yeah, um, so that that's why most of them will
00:20:41
wear blinders I don't know man, 66 miles an hour going away from
00:20:44
me, I don't know that I can.
00:20:45
I guess you have to have all the advantages you can when you
00:20:49
look into something like that my gosh yep.
00:20:52
So not only did you have this Ranger deal come out, you also
00:20:56
have something with elite shotguns going on now.
00:20:58
That's pretty cool.
00:21:00
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:21:01
So, um, we, we kind of worked out a deal where, um, I'm
00:21:06
working as a consultant for the Vero beach uh play shooting
00:21:10
sports, uh club as well as elite shotguns, just uh, helping use
00:21:15
my knowledge that I've gained over my years in the sport
00:21:16
shooting sports club, as well as elite shotguns, just helping
00:21:20
use my knowledge that I've gained over my years in the
00:21:21
sport to help them better serve their customers.
00:21:23
And we're really looking forward to to working at the
00:21:27
club Some helping out with like the Caribbean classic.
00:21:30
So that's that's kind of where that gig is going to be is
00:21:38
helping them get everything up and running better and make
00:21:42
things better, especially for our big signature Keep the
00:21:45
Caribbean class down there.
00:21:46
Speaker 3: You going to do any coaching down there, or are you
00:21:48
still coaching?
00:21:50
Speaker 4: I do a little bit of coaching, not a lot, my schedule
00:21:54
doesn't really allow it a whole lot.
00:21:55
Yeah, um, once the once I kind of get settled in.
00:21:59
Um, I might, might try and plan a day or two to teach down
00:22:03
there at Vero when I travel down there.
00:22:05
But um, at this point in time I haven't made any plans to do
00:22:09
that.
00:22:10
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, good, what is what has it been like
00:22:12
since you've been back from Paris?
00:22:14
I mean, have you had a lot of people want to talk to you?
00:22:16
You had a lot of phone calls, what's interviews, yeah.
00:22:20
Speaker 4: Yeah, I've done.
00:22:21
Uh, this is actually my second interview today.
00:22:23
Um, I did one with uh, actually with with Zach's cousin.
00:22:27
Um, rick Carrera.
00:22:31
He was a baseball guy, baseball analyst or something.
00:22:37
He's got a show on Affinity Radio that's going to air
00:22:43
sometime this weekend.
00:22:45
Speaker 3: Are you talking about Zach Keenbaum?
00:22:49
Speaker 4: Yeah, I met him maybe 8-, 10 years ago, um, but uh,
00:22:58
he he's a really, really nice guy.
00:23:00
Um, did uh, done uh, three or four other ones.
00:23:05
Kind of slowed down a little bit now, but I've had a lot of
00:23:10
people calling me how, how proud they were to know me and tell
00:23:15
me I did a good job.
00:23:16
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I'm sure.
00:23:17
Um, we were talking about this before we started recording this
00:23:21
episode.
00:23:22
What about Vince Hancock?
00:23:23
Speaker 4: Uh, I mean, he's an animal, he's a machine.
00:23:30
I mean you.
00:23:31
You can't coach what he has.
00:23:33
Um, you know he's so dedicated to his craft that nothing's
00:23:41
going to get in his way If he sets his mind on it.
00:23:43
He's going to do whatever he has to to do it to get the job
00:23:47
done.
00:23:47
And I, you almost can't beat a guy like that because he's not
00:23:51
whatever he has to to do it to get the job done.
00:23:52
You almost can't beat a guy like that because he's not
00:23:54
nervous or anything like that when he starts doing it.
00:23:59
He's worked so hard at it that you can't screw it up.
00:24:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean if somebody wanted to get into
00:24:08
international skeet and head for the Olympics, I mean he's been
00:24:12
there, he's done it, he's won it .
00:24:13
I mean I just like you said, how do you beat somebody like
00:24:17
that?
00:24:17
You?
00:24:17
Speaker 4: know, I mean you.
00:24:19
I don't know that you can, but if we're going to learn that
00:24:22
game, you about got to go to him .
00:24:23
His student I mean his students won two medals over there.
00:24:27
Speaker 3: I mean his students won two medals over there.
00:24:28
Yeah, what about if somebody wants to get into what you do?
00:24:32
What is the route they have to take?
00:24:40
Speaker 4: You know, the best thing to do is just go on USA
00:24:41
Shooting's website and find where there's a club close to
00:24:44
you and find some shoots to go to.
00:24:46
That's really the best way.
00:24:48
Usa Shooting will have two selection matches every year
00:24:52
that are always posted on the website when they're scheduled.
00:24:55
There's really not much other opportunity other than that,
00:25:04
really.
00:25:07
Speaker 3: Well, what you got going on next here.
00:25:09
Now that you're back and settled in, what do you?
00:25:11
What are you going on here?
00:25:13
Speaker 4: um, I'm gonna go shoot the coonpecker open.
00:25:15
Um, you know that's, that's become one of my favorite events
00:25:20
of the year as it's got to be.
00:25:21
Speaker 3: You know, gary's asked me to come up there a
00:25:23
hundred times and he's just tired.
00:25:25
He's tired of asking me because I never go and he's like you
00:25:30
need to come.
00:25:32
Speaker 4: It's just a really good time.
00:25:34
You know it's a neat competition because you shoot a
00:25:38
little bit of everything.
00:25:39
But just the environment is very laid back, kind of retro to
00:25:45
what we had in the 90s in the game of sporting plays before we
00:25:49
blew up and started having all these 1 people shoots and
00:25:52
2 people nationals.
00:25:53
It's just kind of a laid-back small group that has a really
00:25:59
good time.
00:26:00
Speaker 3: Oh, I'm sure You're going with Gary.
00:26:02
Yeah, you've got to have a good time.
00:26:04
I don't know how you couldn't.
00:26:05
Y'all are really good friends too, aren't you?
00:26:08
Speaker 1: Yeah.
00:26:10
Speaker 4: Yeah, I thought I don't know how you couldn't.
00:26:11
Speaker 3: Y'all are really good friends too, aren't you?
00:26:12
Yeah, yeah, he's kind of like a brother.
00:26:13
Speaker 4: Yeah, what's after that?
00:26:14
Um, I'll go to nationals.
00:26:16
Speaker 3: You're not doing the regionals.
00:26:18
Speaker 4: No, I've got other things scheduled.
00:26:21
Um uh, I guess the Hopkins is this weekend, isn't it this week
00:26:26
?
00:26:26
Yes, it's coming up.
00:26:29
Yeah, so I this weekend, isn't it.
00:26:29
This week, yes, it's coming up.
00:26:30
Yeah, I wasn't ready to start traveling again, just wanting
00:26:33
some time at home, yeah, and then I've got some other stuff
00:26:38
here going on here around home during the regional down at
00:26:41
Travis's place, and then the week after that we've got our
00:26:47
bunker national championships up in Michigan.
00:26:49
So I'll go shoot that and then the got our bunker national
00:26:50
championships up in Michigan.
00:26:50
I'll go shoot that, then the Coonpecker and then national.
00:26:55
Speaker 3: Yeah, the next I guess, four years, until this
00:26:58
comes around again in LA, are you going to be hitting sporting
00:27:03
clays pretty hard.
00:27:04
Are you going to ease off, or what are you going to do?
00:27:07
Speaker 4: Yeah, I imagine next year you'll see me at quite a
00:27:10
few sporting shoots.
00:27:11
I'm going to take it easier from a travel standpoint on the
00:27:17
Olympic track, maybe go to a couple World Cups next year, but
00:27:22
I'm not going to hit it hard, mainly because there's nothing
00:27:27
really next year that helps you get to the next Olympics.
00:27:31
It's kind of what they call the off year in the Olympic cycle.
00:27:35
So kind of take it easy on that to kind of refresh and regroup
00:27:41
and get ready to hit it hard the two years after that to win
00:27:46
quota slots and get eligible and get ready to win another
00:27:50
Olympic trials.
00:27:52
Speaker 3: Did I see a long time ago that you have a trap field
00:27:55
at your house now?
00:27:57
Speaker 4: Yeah, so we, uh, we got one built, um, actually got
00:28:01
an operational the day before I left for Croatia in 22.
00:28:05
Okay, um, we uh, we've just about got all the concrete
00:28:09
poured finally.
00:28:09
So it's been a been a slow progress, but it's it's really
00:28:13
been a blessing in uh in my development and uh getting me to
00:28:19
a spot where I'm competitive day in and day out.
00:28:22
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's what I was going to say.
00:28:23
I mean, you know, having that, I guess it's in your backyard,
00:28:26
or at least right there close to you.
00:28:28
Speaker 4: Yeah, so it's actually down at the farm where
00:28:31
I grew up.
00:28:31
It's about an hour drive from where I live.
00:28:36
It's kind of nice.
00:28:37
It keeps me from burning myself out.
00:28:44
It's one of those things that Promatic stepped up and really
00:28:48
helped me with.
00:28:48
It really helped me further my Olympic dream.
00:28:51
Speaker 3: So is there's not one close to you either?
00:28:54
Either, is there.
00:28:56
Speaker 4: No, before we got that one built, um, I was having
00:28:58
to drive to St Louis or to Fort Worth to practice, which is six
00:29:03
hours six hours to St Louis and seven to Fort Worth.
00:29:07
Speaker 3: You really want to shoot some trap?
00:29:08
Yes, you do.
00:29:11
Yeah, so that could I mean.
00:29:12
You know, now that you've got that, there's no telling what I
00:29:15
mean.
00:29:15
The sky's the limit.
00:29:17
Now you know what I mean.
00:29:18
Speaker 4: Yeah.
00:29:19
Speaker 3: Yep.
00:29:20
Speaker 4: So no excuses.
00:29:21
Yeah, you can't have an excuse now.
00:29:27
Speaker 3: So but uh, I guess I'll see you at Nationals man.
00:29:28
I mean you've been all over and I was going to say, if you're
00:29:31
going to be at one of these other shoots, I'd probably see
00:29:33
you, but if you're not going to be there, I'm not going to be at
00:29:34
Coonpecker.
00:29:35
I'm going to go to that one day .
00:29:37
Speaker 4: Yes, you got to.
00:29:39
It's a good time.
00:29:39
Yeah, just kind of something to think about and look forward to
00:29:44
at Nationals is, um.
00:29:46
I'm not sure what day we're going to do it yet, but we're
00:29:48
going to set up something with Ranger and Elite in the Elite
00:29:52
Shotguns building um one one day at Nationals um to showcase my
00:29:58
uh, my signature series, as well as be available to uh to meet
00:30:02
and greet.
00:30:02
Um so that's something that'll be on the horizon there at
00:30:08
Nationals.
00:30:08
Speaker 3: You talked about so Ranger and Elite Shotguns and I
00:30:11
heard you mention ProMatic.
00:30:12
Who else has helped you out in your venture in shooting?
00:30:17
Speaker 4: My family has helped tremendously my wife and
00:30:21
daughter as well as my mom and dad.
00:30:23
But Federal has been a big, big player as well.
00:30:27
They keep me stocked with uh, with him, um, the paper
00:30:32
ammunition and uh hard to beat, getting to shoot those all the
00:30:36
time.
00:30:37
Yeah the smell.
00:30:39
Speaker 3: They smell good and you know I was your wife posted
00:30:42
a picture of your daughter.
00:30:43
I could not believe how, how big she's gotten Right.
00:30:46
I can't believe he's eight years old no, I remember when
00:30:49
she was walking in, weathering her like a, like a newborn I
00:30:52
mean yeah, well, I mean, she was what?
00:30:56
Speaker 4: four or five weeks old, at the cany creek, at the
00:30:59
mud fest us open yeah, eight years ago.
00:31:03
Speaker 3: It's crazy, time flies man.
00:31:05
Yes, it does crazy.
00:31:08
Speaker 4: um they, I tell you the uh.
00:31:10
The other group that's helped me out a lot is Ultimate
00:31:13
Shooting Accessories and Castellani, yes, and then Bill
00:31:19
down there at Pure Gold Chokes.
00:31:20
He keeps me well-tuned with my choke tubes as well, you were
00:31:24
shooting.
00:31:25
Speaker 3: I think I saw those, had them hanging at you.
00:31:27
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:31:29
The Champion Series.
00:31:30
Speaker 3: Yep, yeah, yeah the champion series Yep, oh yeah,
00:31:32
you shot those for a while too.
00:31:35
Speaker 4: Yeah, I think I've been shooting those for six
00:31:37
years now.
00:31:38
Speaker 3: I think you, if I'm right, you helped him develop
00:31:41
them.
00:31:42
Speaker 4: Yeah yeah, that was something when I started
00:31:46
pursuing the Olympic crap.
00:31:48
I needed a shorter choke to make my porting legal, and so we
00:31:54
developed the champion series I've been really happy with it
00:31:59
Well good.
00:32:00
Speaker 3: Well, derek, I know you have things to do.
00:32:02
I just wanted to get you on here real quick, talk to you
00:32:04
about your, your you know your trials and and I appreciate you
00:32:09
having me the Olympics and everything you've done.
00:32:12
I mean, you know we're always proud of you over here, so uh,
00:32:16
but I'll uh surely check you out at nationals for sure.
00:32:19
Speaker 4: All right, we'll look forward to seeing.
00:32:21
All right, derek We'll see you, buddy.
00:32:22
All right, take care.
00:32:24
Thank you.