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State President II
State President I
Featured Team Members
Derek Lowe
Derek began his shooting in the cadet force at RGS Guildford, moving on to the Athelings in 1991, Oxford University over 1991 – 1994 and the Surrey county team since the late 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 5th to South Africa, and 3rd 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 finance as a Group Company Secretary.
Bill Richards
SM SB
This will be Bill’s twelfth GB tour and his fourth to South Africa, including once with England in 2009. Although best known as a coach, Bill has appeared in the final of HM Queen’s Prize final 25 times and 18 times in the top 50 of the Grand Aggregate, so he can occasionally point his rifle in the right direction.
Bill has been a Maths teacher since 2003 and is extremely grateful to his school for allowing him time off during term time to tour. When Bill isn’t teaching or on the range, Bill is involved in running Space Design Competitions, inspiring the next generation of rocket scientists! He is rarely found without his Kindle, reading mostly a diet of science fiction and fantasy.
Tom Rylands
SC
Tom is no stranger to South Africa, having first shot there in 1984 at Hamilton. This will be his 5th GB tour to the country, having also captained an England Team in 2009. Tom has been part of 5 Palma Teams and 6 Australia Match teams and looks forward to the strong competition he knows will be present in Bloemfontein. Tom is also Team Manager for the GB Under 25 Team and is excited at the prospect of bringing more young shooters to competition in South Africa. He is also known to spend a fair amount of time making ammunition and fettling rifles!
Theo Dodds
Theo started shooting with an air rifle in his back garden at the age of 4 but more formally got into the sport at the age of 13 at Tonbridge School. He got his first opportunity for a Great Britain tour with the GB U21 team to the 2015 World Championships and has been progressing through the teams with a tour to South Africa with the GB U25s in 2017 and the New Zealand World Championships in 2019.
A keen Smallbore shooter, he became the youngest in history to “do the double” by winning the Earl Roberts and the X Class Grand Agg in the 2019 Bisley Smallbore Meeting.
In 2021 he received his first GB Cap in the Kolapore team, something he is extremely proud of. Now an Officer in the Royal Navy, Theo is very grateful to receive support from his Service as he aims to secure a spot in the Palma team in 2024.
Tour Information
Captain’s Foreword
