UK Student Archery Association

Last day drama as Bristol win SWWU [25/May/23]

Results from the final two SWWU matches of the season have now been published. Matches 6 and 7 were both held outdoors, with match 7 doubling up as the SWWU Outdoor Champs. Bath won match 6, but Bristol won match 7 and ended up winning the overall SWWU title. Bath won the novice league title and Swansea the compound league title, both with a match to spare.

After match 5, Bath, Bristol and Exeter all had 45 points, with aggregates of 10383, 10307 and 10209. Match 6 was hosted by Bath across two weekends, the 23rd and 30th April. The round used was a WA900. Home side Bath took top spot in the match, scoring a team of 4 total of 2868 and their greater strength in depth carving out a lead of just over 200. Bristol were second however on 2659. Plymouth and Swansea were the only two other clubs to enter. Alex Williams (Bristol) was the top scorer in the match, scoring exactly 800.

The DNS dropped Exeter out of league title contention. Bath meanwhile now had 55 points to Bristol's 54, with an aggregate advantage of 285. This means that Bath would be champions unless Bristol them by either 2 places or 1 place and 285 points. Bath have won the overall SWWU title no less than 9 times but not since 2015. Bristol may have only won once before - in 2022.

Match 7 doubled as the SWWU Outdoor Champs and was hosted by Bristol. The round used was a WA720. Home side Bristol took top spot in the match. Their total of 1937 included 559 from top scorer Alex Williams. Crucially however, Plymouth nudged in front of Bath in second, with 1765 against 1733. Bristol's winning margin over Bath had been 204 - less than the 285 they would have needed had Bath finished second.

In the novice team events, Bath won match 6 and guaranteed themselves the title with a match to spare. Match 7 was quite sparsely attended by novices, but Bristol won to deny Bath a perfect clean sweep. Merlin Dillingham (Bath) top scored in both novice matches. Bath ended on 69 points to Bristol's novices second, but back on 53. Bath pick up their ninth SWWU novice title and first since 2015.

In the compound matches, Swansea won match 6 and guaranteed themselves the title with a match to spare - they didn't field any archers in match 7, which was won by Bristol. Amy Bode (Bristol) top scored in both matches. Swansea were top with 51 points ahead of Bristol on 45.

Bristol ended the overall SWWU season with 64 league points and win their second SWWU title. Bath were bumped into second on 63, but despite being denied the overall title, this is still Bath's best finish since their 2015 triumph. With several teams not shooting at either or both of the two Outdoor SWWU legs, Exeter somehow managed to cling on to third, back on 45 points, with Plymouth on 41. West of England competed in their first full SWWU campaign and finished 5th on 38 points.

Final tables are available on the SWWU 2022/23 page.

As SWWU were the last region to complete their league campaigns, the Regional League Historical Performances spreadsheet in the Resources section is now fully up to date for 2022/23 (barring the Irish IVL).