On target

Intheblack, Mar 2007 by Dillon, Matthew

WORK, REST AND PLAY

ANNA SHEDRINA ASA IS AS ACCURATE WITH A SHOTGUN AS SHE IS WITH A SPREADSHEET, DISCOVERS MATTHEW DILLON

As a management accountant with Dental Services Victoria, Anna Shedrina ASA has to be accurate. She brings that same focus to her passion for clay target shooting. Two years after taking up the sport, she became the Australian women's national champion for the Olympic trap discipline, held in Brisbane in early January. "Saying that I'm pretty happy is an understatement," says Shedrina, 25, who defeated Olympic gold medallist Suzanne Balogh in the final to claim the title. "It's the highest competition you can win in Australia."

After being introduced to shooting through a former boyfriend (who is now her coach), Shedrina decided to see where the sport took her. Pretty soon she was either practising or competing every weekend, and improved rapidly, winning an Australia Cup only a year after seriously getting into the sport. "I guess you could say I'm a perfectionist," Shedrina says. "When I want something, I fight hard to get it. I'm pretty aggressive when I have to be."

That win taught her plenty about performing under pressure. "The key is to focus on the job at hand: breaking the next target - not the target you've just shot," she explains. "Winning or losing should be irrelevant when you pull the trigger."

While the skill level required to succeed in the sport is high, Shedrina says the psychological demands are enormous. "Mentally, you need to block out all thoughts except for, ? need to break the target'," she explains. "[Olympic champion] Russell Mark says that to exceed in the sport you need to be either really smart or really dumb. If you're really dumb you don't have those extra thoughts that may make you miss a target. If you're really smart you can ignore them."

Finding the time to compete, train, study and work (Shedrina also works part time at a gym) requires serious organisation. Her day begins at 5.30am, when she hits the gym for cardio and weights. CPA study is done on the tram to and from work, and at lunchtimes. Shedrina also plays tennis and learns three dance styles: jazz, funk, and pole-dancing, which she says is "amazing, strength-wise".

clay target shooting is notoriously expensive: guns can cost up to $10,000, and Shedrina estimates she spends $60-$80 at each of three weekly training sessions. It adds up when you don't have a sponsor.

So why does she do it? In short: "that winning feeling".

"As for the monetary rewards, it's pretty clear none of us do it for the money," she says. "We do it because once we started hitting those targets we got hooked on doing more and more of it. And the more you win, the more you want to come back and do it again."