User talk:Msymmonds

Mathew Symmonds
Mathew Jon Symmonds (born 17 February 1974) is a British archer from Llantwit Major, Wales.

Beginnings
Symmonds began shooting in 1984 at the then newly formed Llantwit Major Archery Club. His debut came in February 1987 at the WFAA Welsh & Open Indoor Championships. His first international success came in the same tournament the following year when he won the junior recurve sighted division. Following this success, Symmonds remained on the international field archery circuit for several years but did not win any major tournaments during this period.

The Comeback
In 2002, Symmonds made a comeback to international field archery, winning both the WFAA Welsh & Open Indoor and the WFAA Welsh & Open Field archery championships. Since then, he has been prolific on the IFAA international field archery circuit. In 2007, Symmonds won his first major international honours taking the silver medal at the IFAA European Field Archery Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden. He also won the UK & Ireland Field Archery Championship the same year. In 2008 Symmonds earned his best known victory when he won the IFAA World Field Archery Championships in Windhoek, Namibia, becoming Wales' third World Champion in IFAA field archery since the sport began in 1945. In 2010, Symmonds won the IFAA World Championship again, this time in Dahn, Germany to become Wales' most successful ever field archer.

In 2010, Symmonds changed direction and began appearing on the FITA tournament circuit in both field and target archery.

Archery Politics
Symmonds is as well known for archery politics as he is for competitive shooting. Symmonds has served on the General Committee of the Welsh Field Archery Association for many years and has been a member of the IFAA World Council since 2004. He was the chief organiser of the IFAA European Field Archery Championships 2009, which was hosted near Abergavenny, Wales.

International Honours
Mathew Symmonds is one of the most experienced archers in the WFAA Wales field archery team and has made more than 100 international appearances for his country since his international debut in 1987. He has captained the WFAA Welsh team more times than any other archer. He first captained the Welsh team in 2004 at the IFAA World Field Archery Championships in New York, USA. He also captained the team at the 2005 European Field Archery Championships (Estonia), 2006 IFAA World Field Archery Championships (Brisbane, Australia), 2007 IFAA European Field Archery Championships (Sweden), 2009 IFAA European Field Archery Championships (Wales) and the 2010 IFAA World Field Archery Championships (Germany). He has also captained the Welsh team each year at the UK & Ireland Championships since 2004.

National Honours
Symmonds has won 14 Welsh Championships titles (Indoor Championships 6 times, Field Championships 6 times, 3D Championships 2 times) and holds Welsh records in several target and field rounds.

Clubs
Llantwit Major Archers (honorary life member since 2008 and founder member)

Blandy Jenkins Archers (Bridgend, since 2009)

Drum Field Archers (Edinburgh, honorary member since 2008)

Equipment
Symmonds shoots using the following equipment
 * Hoyt Matrix 990TX
 * Easton X10 and X7 arrows
 * Beiter Multirod stabilisation
 * Beiter click pressure button
 * Spigarelli Carbon 30 sight
 * BCY string
 * Spigarelli arrow rest