Back in 2020, around 100 hopefuls submitted an application to be a part of the 2023 Palma Team, with a pre-tour in 2022. One global pandemic later, and the schedule slipping by a year, today marks 1245 days since the 4th October 2020, when the initial squad was selected. This is the day we’ve all had circled in our calendars for a very, very long time. The day we set off for the 2024 World Championships.
With great anticipation and excitement, the team met in the Surrey Rifle Association at Bisley for final packing for our flight to South Africa . With learnings from last year, scenes of total calm followed the strict precision of the packing team, who were busy maximising every kg of our baggage allowances. Weighing, repacking, and re-weighing 46 bags to make best use of our allowance, and to get over a ton (!) of equipment and personal luggage allocated efficiently.
At 4pm, the whole group left for Heathrow Airport with all rifles, an hour earlier than planned due to warnings from our early party about how long it had taken them to get through check in. Apologies were passed via the phone to previous Palma Captain Martin Townsend who had not been warned about the departure time move, and had arrived to wave us off from Bisley just as we turned onto the M25. Our most panicked moment of the day was short lived as the bus suspension, struggling under the aforementioned luggage weight, finally started working. Apparently only one member had to move towards the back of the bus to rebalance the weight – no comment on who’s pre-tour training consisted of wine tasting and steak eating to generate sufficient ballast.
Once at Heathrow Terminal 3, sheep mode was initiated, with team members being co-ordinated by James’ minion Rosanne Furniss (with one walkie talkie) with clear instruction to NOT think outside the box. A special mention must go to James Watson (with the other walkie talkie) who had already been in contact with Heathrow and Virgin, and had picked up all the paperwork to minimise the arduous form filling at the airport. His plan worked, with the Virgin Atlantic team at the check-in being very efficient. The entire team flew through in less than an hour. Customs, once the team arrived, were equally efficient, and by 7pm we were free to relax. The team passed the 3 spare hours in a variety of ways, some finding a comfy lounge, others shopping, whilst the captain sated his competitive spirits with a game of ‘Top Trumps Hot Hunks’ with members the Under 25 team. Hearing the Captain say “sex appeal, seven” would otherwise need more context. We can only assume that after such excitement, he is looking forward to regrouping with the rest of his management team, who were part of the early party who travelled on Day -2.
The early party, having primed the Heathrow team to expect our arrival today, flew out on Thursday to make the most of a few extra days of R&R. Apparently ‘relaxation’ is the term used for collecting thousands of rounds of ammunition, gun slips, team kit, chairs, flagpoles and coolboxes, and safely transporting it all to Bloemfontein. The rest of us are very thankful for their efforts, and trust they will start to enjoy more of the sunshine and the pool as they await our arrival tomorrow.
