A tale of lost luggage and kindness in Yankton

Rebecca LENNON and Aimee CONVERY, two British archers, had an extra plane trip than the rest of their teammates from the British mainland. 

The pair live in Northern Ireland and needed to fly to London Heathrow to join up with the rest of the squad.

Somewhere, the link did not quite go to plan – after the girls’ first plane was cancelled and they were delayed arriving in London – and neither of Rebecca or Aimee’s luggage made the trip to Yankton. 

“My bow and my clothes are gone. Just completely lost somewhere,” said Rebecca. “It’s been pretty stressful.” 

Something of an understatement, perhaps. 

“I’m wearing clothes from the rest of the team. My shooting shirt is the only thing I own right now! My shorts are really Simon’s, these are Kirsten’s shoes and the socks are from Walmart!” 

The team arrived on Saturday, and with the equipment still nowhere to be seen the night before official practice, team managers began scrambling for alternatives.

“A woman from the Easton Centre leant me a ProComp but it was about an inch and a half too long, so Maja from Croatia came over and let me borrow her spare.”

Enter the reigning compound cadet women’s bronze medallist and finalist at the last senior worlds – and altogether happy young woman – Maja ORLIC. 

Despite only having two sets of equipment in Yankton, Maja said she saw Rebecca struggling with the borrowed bow and immediately walked over to offer up her own spare. 

“She said yes, and then told me she was shooting better with my kit,” said Maja!

Between different countries, different athletes, Maja’s kindness epitomises the atmosphere in Yankton. She even admitted while she knew Rebecca, she didn’t know her that well. 

Maja’s bow in hand, Rebecca LENNON’s own preparation was still key. 

She kept two sets of data sheets about her bow: One in her luggage – still lost – and one in her handbag, in case of just this kind of thing happening. 

It came in handy when team coach Simon SCOTT scrambled to adjust the peepsight height of Maja’s spare kit in time for official practice and equipment inspection.

Everything – well, nearly everything – was ready just in time. 

“We picked up some arrows from Lancaster archery.” The proshop had installed a temporary stand on site with a full stock of arrow spines, luckily. 

“Simon made them up one by one during the session. As soon as one arrow was ready, I shot it. Next one ready, shot that.” 

On the other side of the field, where the recurves were practising, Aimee CONVERY had done the same with spare gear from her British teammates. She and Rebecca finished practice day in Yankton with their replacement equipment. 

When asked what would happen if their own gear did arrive during the week, Rebecca laughed, a lot. 

“You know. I might just keep going with what I have because it’s going well and I don’t really want to change back!” 

Read more about Yankton 2015.