Meet the Palma Team
Captain
Jeremy Langley
As Captain for the Palma, Jeremy has been working with a large squad for the last three years which culminated in March 2023 with an in-country tour and final selection. This ‘pre-Palma’ tour was a great way for the team to experience the challenges of shooting in South Africa and Jeremy is greatly looking forward to renewing old friendships forged by many years of international competition, whilst hopefully redressing the 1999 Palma Match result!
Jeremy (a third-generation shooter from Devon) is a seasoned international shot and coach having toured for Great Britain on 19 previous occasions (including six tours to South Africa – spanning three decades). In 2023, he captained the GB team to a single-point win in the Protea Match.
In his spare time when not shooting or coaching, he and his wife Judy can be found chasing after their two sons, Benjamin & Harry.
Vice-Captain
Nick Tremlett
GM SB
Nick started shooting before most of this team were born, and first competed at international level in 1976. Dabbling in both Target Rifle and Match Rifle, Nick has won the H.M. Queen’s Prize and the Hopton, and a few other trophies along the way. He was Captain of the undefeated GB team to South Africa in 2017, a tour during which he also won the State President prize for the 2nd time.
2024 will be Nick’s eighth visit to Bloemfontein, and he was a member of the last GB Palma team to compete there, in 1999, along with six other members of the current team.
He has a fascination in long range ballistics and has played an instrumental role in the development of the GB team’s ammunition for this Palma tour; creating a load to overcome the particular ballistic challenges presented by a combination of Bloemfontein’s altitude and high daytime temperatures.
Adjutant
Derek Lowe
Derek began fullbore shooting in the cadet force at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, moving on to the Athelings in 1991, Oxford University and the Surrey county team through the 1990s. He has been fortunate enough to represent England or Great Britain in various guises in Australia, Canada, Jersey, Kenya, Namibia, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
This tour will be Derek’s sixth to South Africa, and fourth as Adjutant. Keenest at long range and in a team environment, he also spends a lot of time in Match Rifle. Aside from coaching and shooting (usually in that order), Derek sits on various committees in order to delay the inevitable moments when he has to leave Bisley. He is an experienced charity trustee both in shooting circles and at the church he attends in central London, and works in corporate management for a shuttle tanker fleet.
Main Coach
Bill Richards
SM SB
This will be Bill’s fifth Palma Match, as well as being his fifth tour to South Africa, but will be his first as the Main Coach. Although coaching has been at the centre of each of these Palma matches, Bill has picked up a few individual shooting medals along the way and has desires to add to these in 2024.
One of the knock-ons from Covid was the rescheduling of the Palma from April into March. As a teacher, this placed both the 2023 and 2024 tours in term-time and Bill is extremely grateful for the understanding shown by Bede’s School in allowing him the time away from school to compete.
One of the things that Bill tells his students, (in jest!), when they have to miss a lesson due to a sports fixture is “don’t bother coming back unless you win!”. What’s good enough for them…
Target Coaches
Seth Dowley
Seth started shooting in 2008 at Cheltenham College. During Ashburtons, Athelings and early tours, he found he particularly enjoyed the wind coaching side of team matches. As a result he has gone on to coach his county, Northamptonshire, Leicestershire and Rutland, as well as England in the National and Mackinnon, and GB in Canada and South Africa. This will be his ninth overseas tour having been fortunate enough to tour with cadet teams, GB U25s and GB.
He attended the last two World Championships in the USA and New Zealand as an U25 and is thrilled to be going this time with the Palma team. He is looking forward to catching up with overseas friends and building on foundations from the 2023 tour.
Away from the ranges, Seth works as an investment adviser for charities, corporates, and private clients and keeps fit with running, hiking and squash.
Matthew Ensor
Matthew started shooting in 1992 at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford. This will be his 15th overseas tour, sixth World Championships and sixth shooting trip to South Africa, having previously visited with GB (2008, 2017, 2023), England (2009) and first with the GB U25s in 2000.
While Matthew has enjoyed a smattering of individual shooting successes, including winning the 2009 Scottish Sword and three consecutive top 10 finishes in the UK Grand Aggregate, he feels most at home wind coaching in team matches. Matthew particularly enjoys the intensity the World Championships and the fickle winds found on the General De Wet ranges in Bloemfontein. He is very much looking forward to combining the two for the first time.
When not on the range, Matthew works in Higher Education and lives in Chelmsford.
Firers
David Armstrong
SB2
David first started shooting at the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, in 1983 and has shot the Imperial Meeting at Bisley every year since, apart from 1997 when he was working in Tokyo. David’s top achievements to date include making 21 the H.M. Queen’s Finals and 17 top 50 finishes in the Grand Aggregate. This will be David’s 11th GB tour and his fifth Palma team, having been part of the winning GB Palma teams in Ottawa in 2007, Brisbane in 2011 and Camp Perry in 2015. This will be his fourth visit to Bloemfontein, following trips in 1999 (as an individual), 2009 with the Old Guildfordians and with last year’s GB team.
Away from Bisley, David is a senior accountant for the Civil Aviation Authority, managing a government-backed trust fund. He is also a keen DIYer and hillwalker.
Nigel Ball
GC SM SC
Nigel is no stranger to South Africa having been on a variety of Great Britain and England teams during the last 30 years. This will be his first tour to Bloemfontein with a GB Palma team and he is relishing the opportunity to compete in a World Championships against such strong competition.
Nigel’s shooting career began in the Royal Navy, where he won the Queens Medal with Service Rifle. He then branched out into Target Rifle. A team to Canada in 1991 gave him an appetite for touring and he has been a regular member of GB and England teams ever since. He has gained several UK Grand Aggregate, the H.M. Queen’s or King’s Final and St George’s badges in his time but it is team shooting he relishes most, hence his delight at being part of this Palma team.
Glyn Barnett
GM3 GC3 SC3
Glyn is an Emergency Medicine Consultant, currently working in Abu Dhabi.
His first Bisley Imperial was in 1985 at the age of 14 and earned his Great Britain cap in 1990. He’s been fortunate enough to have toured many times, but mostly in the 20th Century. His last Palma appearance was at Bisley in 2003 and so, after a hiatus of 20 years, he decided to set his goals appropriately. His three overseas tours in the 21st Century have all been to the General De Wet range. Glyn holds 4 Palma team medals, 4 Commonwealth Games medals (including Pairs Gold with Parag in 2006) and is one of only five people to have won the H.M. Queen’s Prize three times.
His family of girls (and The Dog) keep him on his toes and in his rightful place in the family pecking order.
Matthew Button
SB
Matthew started shooting at the age of 14 as part of his Duke of Edinburgh’s award, following his father and grandfather into the sport. He continued shooting through school (winning the Ashburton with Oakham) and while studying medicine at London University. During this time he managed to combine his overseas medical elective with the 1995 Championships in New Zealand.
Since qualifying his surgical training at times limited options for shooting and touring. He now works as a Vascular Surgeon in Brighton and is encouraging the next generation into the sport! He has managed to take part in the Imperial Meeting in some form each year and has competed as part of GB and England tours to Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Kenya and Namibia. Including returning to New Zealand after 24 years for the last Palma Match.
Hannah Cook
Hannah’s introduction to shooting sure isn’t the norm. At the tender age of 7, she could be found shooting tin cans in the garden, but was finally taken to a ‘real club’ at the age of 11. At the age of 14, she got the ‘bug’ for international shooting, and competed at the 2006 World Championships in both 50m prone (Junior Women’s), and 300m (Senior Women’s). While studying at Wellington College, she began her Target Rifle career, breaking her Tyro at the first attempt. With one cap under her belt, she is looking forward to achieving two personal goals in 2024; competing at a World Championships in all disciplines she has shot, and being a part of the winning Palma team!
Off the range, Hannah can be found donning her professional uniform as a Physiotherapist working on a respiratory ward.
Theo Dodds
Theo started shooting with an air rifle in his back garden at the age of 4, continuing at Tonbridge School. He first toured overseas with the GB U21 team to the 2015 World Championships, then with the GB U25s to South Africa in 2017 and New Zealand in 2019. Theo’s first GB cap was awarded for the 2021 Kolapore Match and his first senior overseas tour was to South Africa in 2023. A keen smallbore shooter, he became the youngest in history to “do the double” by winning both the Earl Roberts and the X Class Aggregate in the 2019 Bisley Smallbore Meeting.
Now an Officer in the Royal Navy and a trainee Observer in the Fleet Air Arm, Theo is very grateful to receive support from his Service as he looks towards success in the 2024 Palma as one of only two serving members of the team.
Chloë Evans
Chloë first picked up a rifle in 2008 at Gresham’s School in Norfolk. Since then, she has been lucky enough to tour Jersey, Canada, the West Indies, the USA and South Africa representing OGRE, GB U25 and Great Britain. Chloë also represents Norfolk & Wales and is proud to have been part of Wales’s historic first National win in 2016 and their second victory in 2021. Some of her best and more recent highlights include very proudly captaining Norfolk to their first County Long win in 20 years and shooting a 150 in the Kolapore, both in 2023.
This will be Chloë’s fourth Great Britain tour but her first Palma team and she is very much looking forward to returning in 2024 to Bloemfontein and its challenging winds. When she can get away from the range, Chloë is an avid sports fan (particularly rugby) and also enjoys reading, running and hiking.
Rosanne Furniss
SM
Rosanne started shooting fullbore at university, spending the next 10 years focusing on honing her wind reading skills in Match Rifle before restarting Target Rifle for the 150th Anniversary Meeting in 2019.
Rosanne has subsequently shot for England in the National and Mackinnon, and for GB in the Kolapore and Protea matches. The 2023 tour to South Africa was her first Target Rifle tour, and it reinforced her passion for meeting shooters from across the world and celebrating the opportunities the sport can give. As a result, she is very much looking forward to returning to South Africa and competing in Bloemfontein at her first World Championships.
Aside from shooting, Rosanne enjoys her work in consulting, project managing large scale transformation projects and spending time with her family in Lewes.
Nick Healy
With Nick’s first GB cap featuring in the selection process for this team, the wild winds (and the associated trauma) of South Africa remain firmly in recent memory. Nick is excited to take the lessons from this tour and apply them in 2024. What is now the highlight of his short (-ish, 25 years…) shooting career so far, selection for the Palma team tops coming 4th in the H.M. Queen’s Prize in 2017 and being the Northern Irish reserve for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The ambition next is to top selection for this tour by being part of the winning team in the Palma Match itself!
Off the range, Nick commands soldiers in a drone-flying Army regiment and is living up to the stereotype with his wife and black Labrador in Wiltshire.
Jon Kent
Jon started his shooting career at Epsom College in 1999, qualifying for the final of the H.M. Queen’s Prize during his second Imperial Meeting the following year. Individual highlights include winning the 2022 Palma and Stickledown Aggregates at Bisley.
Jon’s previous overseas tours include Australia and Canada with the Great Britain U25s and the 2011 GB team to Canada and 2023 GB team to South Africa. He has been a member of the winning teams in both the Under 21 and Under 25 World Championships matches, in 2003 and 2007 respectively. This will be Jon’s third shooting tour to South Africa and he is thrilled to be returning to Bloemfontein again to represent GB on his first Palma tour.
When not shooting Jon can be found running his company, intheOffice. In his spare time he loves travelling with his wife and cycling.
David Luckman
GM2 GC3 SM SB3 SC6
David will be touring South Africa for a ninth time having first visited with the Great Britain team 26 years ago. He is looking forward to catching up with friends, both local and international, and is hoping to compete in his seventh Palma Match.
David’s successes include winning the H.M. Queen’s Prize (twice), Grand Aggregate (3 times), the St George’s (4 times) plus four Gold Medals at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games. In 2015, he finally managed to shed the title of ‘Oldest ever World Individual Long Range rifle champion’ but his new long-term goal is to one day regain that title.
David started shooting with Sedgemoor Target Shooting Club and represents Somerset county. He is married to Susie and lives in Bristol with their children Thomas and Sophie. When he has time, David is a keen sports player and enjoys cycling, tennis, and swimming.
Chris Mitchell
Chris began shooting at the Oratory School some 20 years ago to escape supervised homework sessions before continuing the theme at Exeter University. Chris has now shot with both England and GB both on home soil and abroad, is the Berkshire county captain and a member of the Cardinals Rifle Club. Chris is looking forward to returning to Bloemfontein having shot there with the GB U19s in 2009 and more recently in 2023 with GB. He’s excited to experience the challenge and intensity of the 2024 World Championships.
Outside of shooting, Chris works as an engineer for Transport for London. Having tried his hand at most other sports and convincing himself that shooting wasn’t taking up enough of his time, Chris can often be found running marathons, ultramarathons and the occasional triathlon.
Graham Nelson
Graham’s shooting journey started at Stamford School, progressing through university, England U21 and GB U25 World Championships in 2003 and 2007. He has been a regular member of England and GB teams since 2015 both as a coach and as a firer. This will be his third tour to South Africa, his first Palma, and he is very much looking forward to more contact with those tricky Bloemfontein winds and outstanding fellow marksmen.
Graham is the manager of the English Lions talent development squad and the Membership Secretary for the English Twenty Club (the governing body for TR in England).
When not on the ranges, Graham works as a Consultant Anaesthetist with a specialist interest in Oesophageal and Intestinal Failure surgery. At home is his very understanding and supportive wife Sophie and their two children Charlie and Annabelle.
Parag Patel
GM GC5 SM SB2 SC2
Parag first started shooting at Epsom College and his prodigious talent was in early evidence when he took gold in the Canadian Grand Aggregate as an Atheling, aged 18, in 1994. Following that, it took him years of learning about mental readiness prior to winning the Bisley Grand Aggregate in 2001. Since then, he has become a regular international shot with this being his 15th GB overseas tour. Despite winning the H.M. Queen’s Prize as well as eight Commonwealth Games medals (4 Gold, 1 Silver and 3 Bronze) his proudest accolade is having won the Bisley Grand Aggregate a record of five times 2001, ‘03, ‘20, ‘21 and ‘22.
While his time on the ranges is limited due to NHS commitments, he and his ever-supportive wife Urvi, enjoy their free time watching their three boys compete in their own sporting endeavours.
Toby Raincock
This will be Toby’s 10th GB tour, for which he is as excited to participate in as he was in his first. Toby first toured to Canada before successful tours with GB to America, Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. He has also participated in very many Mackinnon, National and Kolapore matches, proudly captaining the latter to a tense win in 2019.
South Africa holds particularly fond memories after winning the SA Open in 2017. Toby is very much looking forward to strong competition and excellent steak.
When not on the ranges, Toby is the CEO for Wealth Management firm Shard Capital. He spends the rest of his time balancing keeping fit, watching his sons participate in numerous sporting activities and sharing taxi duties with his wife, Melanie. Toby is very grateful for Melanie’s (& others) support to enable him to be in SA.
Rick Shouler
GM
Rick, an Oakham School veteran, shoots for Nottinghamshire county. This will be his fifth GB tour to Bloemfontein and he absolutely loves competing against talented friends in South Africa. This will be Rick’s eighth GB overseas tour and second World Championships.
Rick has shot in four of the Big 5 team matches (with a future Australia Match firmly in his sights!), was part of the winning GB teams in the 2008 and 2023 Protea matches and the England team in the 2019 America Match. Individually, in the UK, he won the St George’s competition in 2018 and, perhaps most notably, the H.M. Queen’s Prize in 2021. Rick has also enjoyed some individual success in Bloemfontein, winning the Free State Open and a number of other competitions.
Rick lives with his partner Sarah and four children, Sam, Alex, Lily and Harrison. He works as a Director at KPMG in Canary Wharf.
Paul Sykes
SC
Paul started shooting with his father, having spent many a year at Bisley “on holiday” as a child. In his early years, he captained The Perse School and University of London. His first tour to South Africa was 2004 as Adjutant of the GB U25 team, returning with GB in 2008. He shot in his first Palma Match in Brisbane, 2011.
After a brief hiatus flirting with the world of cycling, Paul returned to shooting in 2018 with a bang, completing his Big 5 in the Kolapore Match that year. He topped this by winning the Silver Cross in 2019, his highest individual honour to date. This is his fifth GB tour and sixth trip to South Africa, a country that has always created fond memories.
Away from shooting, Paul is a Consultant Colorectal Surgeon at Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth and continues to cycle in his spare time.
Jon Underwood
GM GC2 SM2
Jon’s passion for target shooting started at the tender age of 11 at Aldro School on a 20 yard range in a converted greenhouse. Jon learnt about fullbore shooting and ‘Bisley’ when he moved to the Royal Grammar School, Guildford, continuing at London University.
Jon has achieved a number of notable successes over the years including winning the Bisley Grand Aggregate, the H.M. Queen’s Prize, and the Governor General’s Prize. He has also been a consistent member of many successful teams representing England and Great Britain. He is delighted to be selected for this World Championships team and is very much looking forward to meeting up with friends again in Bloemfontein.
Back home, Jon looks after his family’s many business interests, including a tool hire business. In his ‘spare time’ he has returned to RGS Guildford to help coach the school’s rifle team.
James Watson
Now on his fifth Palma (and 14th GB) team tour, this will be James’s eleventh visit to the General De Wet ranges. James earned his Big 5 badge in 2011 and captained Great Britain in the 2021 Kolapore Match. Individually, his most recent notable success was winning the Gold medal in the 800 yards aggregate at the 2019 World Championships.
James started shooting under the pupillage of Simon Pattinson at Uppingham School, before graduating to shoot at county (Northamptonshire, Leicestershire and Rutland) and country level when the late Andrew Tucker selected him for his first of five England tours in 1995. His first GB cap came in 2001 and he has now amassed over 30 appearances for Great Britain.
James works for Amazon in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) business (cloud computing). At home, he is married to Ellen with two children Eddie and Zoë who keep him on his toes.
Armourer
Tom Rylands
SC
Tom’s first trip to Bloemfontein with a GB team was as Adjutant in 1993 and he has toured there several times since, including as Captain of England in 2009. In addition to South Africa, Tom has toured Australia and Tasmania, Canada, USA, West Indies, Kenya and Zimbabwe with either GB or England. He has competed in five Palma and six Australia matches, sharing the record individual score of 200.26 in the latter.
Tom spends a lot of time with schools and cadets and is currently National Shooting Coach for UK Army cadets. He also coaches university students, spends a considerable amount of time building and repairing rifles and many hours loading ammunition.
He is touring in a different capacity this year as he travels to South Africa in 2024 as GB U25 team manager, armourer to the GB team and ballistic technician.
Physiotherapists
Jackie Davies
Having quite firmly stated that she had retired from team touring in 2019, Jackie has revealed that she has the breaking strain of a hot KitKat and is delighted to accept Jeremy’s invitation to work once again with the GBRT as a team Physiotherapist for the 2024 World Championships and Palma Match in South Africa. This will be Jackie’s fifth GB tour and fourth Palma tour and she is looking forward to seeing many friends from all over the world again.
Jackie still lives and works as a Physiotherapist in Alberta, having moved there in 2010. With ongoing professional development courses, she has some new skills to “inflict” on the team as well as relying on the trusted favourites! In her spare time, she enjoys an eclectic mix of clay shooting, tai chi, skiing and kayaking.
Zoë Stirling
Following a lucky chance meeting a few weeks prior, Zoë joined the 2015 Great Britain Palma team to the USA as Physiotherapist just a few weeks after graduating from University. In 2019, she joined the team again for the trip to New Zealand and so South Africa will be Zoë’s third overseas tour in nine years.
Working for the NHS for the past 7 years, Zoë has worked within many different roles and specialised in Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy in 2018 before an extended stay in New Zealand after the 2019 tour. Now back in the UK, she is currently working with complex patients in the community setting, seeing a wide range of presentations.
Zoë is really looking forward to re-joining the team in South Africa in 2024 but unfortunately has no plans to stay on after this one.
Reserves
Jack Alexander
Jack started fullbore shooting at the age of 13 under the supervision of his father, leading on to a number of years shooting with Wiltshire ACF. As with many of his shooting friends he caught the bug and never looked back.
Jack went on to shoot for Ireland in both the National and Mackinnon matches before his first overseas tour, to America in 2015 with the GB U25s. There, he was a member of the gold medal winning team and completed the double by winning the World Under 25 Individual Championships. Jack’s other individual shooting highlights include representing Northern Ireland in two Commonwealth Games.
Outside of shooting Jack has a busy plumbing business, Fullbore Plumbing. He also likes to find as much time as possible to head into the mountains to hike, climb and take part in many outdoor activities.
Tom Drysdale
Tom started shooting with the Air Training Corps at the tender age of 13, initially very unsuccessfully. With persistence and training he improved enough to gain a place on the 2006 Athelings team for his first overseas tour. Since 2006, Tom has toured a further ten times to all major countries on the international scene, representing GB U19, GB U25, GB and England. Tom’s notable successes to date include finishing in the top 50 of the Grand Aggregate at Bisley for the last eight years with a 3rd place finish in 2020. Tom’s continued development has seen several individual wins at Bisley over the years and he completed the Big 5 in 2017 becoming only the 100th person to shoot all five matches.
Tom currently works as a Project Manager in London. Away from the range Tom enjoys playing and watching football, gaming, and hitting the gym.
Alastair Haley
Alastair’s shooting career began rather casually with an air rifle in his back garden, before joining a local .22 shooting club aged 8. Re-joining the sport in 1998, he went on to captain his university team, but didn’t pick up a fullbore rifle until after graduation in 2002.
Despite his comparatively late entry into Target Rifle shooting, he quickly progressed to county and then national representation for Wales in 2004. He is proud to have been part of the first National Match win for Wales in 2016, and to have repeated that success in 2021.
After four international tours with Wales, he made his GB debut in 2013 in Canada, and has 11 international tours under his belt, including four GB caps, and three previous tours to South Africa in 2003, 2009, and 2023.
Jason Pepera-Hibbert
Jason began shooting at Wellington College under the watchful eye of Nigel Ball, another member of the team. As a 2016 Atheling, Jason became obsessed with wind-reading and team coaching.
Whilst studying at Exeter University, Jason spent his holidays going on tour with the NRA team 2018 and the GB U25 Team to the World Championships in New Zealand 2019 where he placed 4th individually and 2nd in the team match (as a shooter!). If you’ve ever talked to Jason, you would know he loves difficult and changing wind conditions, so naturally his favourite range to date is Trentham, NZ.
As a reserve, Jason is looking forward to working with such a strong team in an effort to help the team win back the Palma Trophy for Great Britain.
Dave Rose
A self confessed shooting and touring addict, Dave is looking forward to supporting the team in its preparations for the Palma Match. Having amassed ten GB and two England tours since 2009, he last toured overseas to Canada in the summer of 2023, where he once again wore his Adjutant’s hat!
Dave started shooting at Epsom College, followed by his time at Southampton University and now the Old Epsomians. Focussing on fullbore in recent years he has toured overseas 12 times and visited all the major shooting nations around the world. To date, the high point is being part of the victorious Palma team in 2015 in the USA.
Dave is an Operations Director, lives in Surrey (& Edinburgh) and spends a lot of his time finding slots in the diary to enable him to go on tour.
