Matt Stutzman and a New World Record

December 9, 2015

by Rick Stonebraker

Matt Stutzman is an archer. Matt was born without arms. Matt uses his feet to shoot arrows. Matt won a silver medal at the 2012 Paralympics in 2012. Matt is awesome and inspirational!

I was invited to McKinney, A as a judge to verify and witness Matt attempting to shoot at a standard 122cm (48in) target at a distance of 310 yards (283.47 meters). The previous record was 200m (220 yards) by Peter Terry in Australia in 2005.

After a short flight from Houston to Dallas, we had a pre-meeting at the Michael Johnson Performance Center. Michael Johnson was an incredible 200/400 meter sprinter in the 1990's winning 13 medals at the Olympics and World Championships, all Gold.

The venue was the driving range at the TPC Craig Ranch golf center. The shooting line and target was measured and verified by a professional surveyor. A copy of the site plan was signed by myself and handed to Philip Robertson who was the official representative of the Guinness World Record committee. A copy of my judges' certification was also handed to Philip.

I was there to verify the distance, to check the archers' equipment and to assure that the shooting was under the rules of the World Archery Federation.

Matt was allowed 3 official attempts to hit the target face and as many practice arrows as needed. He had 24 hours to complete the three arrows if needed, due to weather, etc. Matt along with his coach, M.J. Rodgers, had practiced the day before and felt comfortable about the record attempt.

The weather for the attempt was ideal: in the 60's with a minimal breeze.

At precisely 11 a.m., Matt started practicing. His first 12 arrows produced one hit on the target. His coach radioed back after each shot to help him make adjustments. At 11:30, a short introduction ceremony took place as that was the official time that reporters, media, and the public were to attend.

You have to see Matt shoot to believe it. He sits on a stool, his compound bow propped in front of him. He removes a shoe, picks up the arrow and loads it onto his bow. He lifts the bow with his foot, using the big toe and the second toe. He brings the bow close to his chest and brings the nocking point close to his chin while setting the release with his mouth. The release is held by a strap that goes around his upper chest and under his armpits.

Matt straightens his leg forward until he comes to a full draw. He brings his right lower jaw in contact with the release and when he is satisfied his anchor point is in place, he leans back and raises his bow to the proper angle. When he is ready, he activates the release and sends the arrow downrange.

Once the introduction festivities were concluded, Matt shot a couple more arrows and declared his next arrow was an official attempt. That arrow went over the target by about a foot.. Matt declared his second official attempt and that arrow landed high in the four ring for an official new world record for distance at a standard target face. Matt flew out of his chair with excitement as the crowd roared with applause. It took a few moments to gather himself and he sat back down and readied for another shot.

While still in the moment, he declared his third and final official attempt and that arrow went over the target. He then removed the sight from his bow and shot an unofficial arrow that landed in the nine ring, less than a foot from the center of the target.

The award ceremony commences with Phillip Robertson presenting Matt with a certificate stating that a World Record had been broken. Everyone headed down range to see the two arrows still in the target. Photos were taken with all who had a hand in this achievement.

After the awards ceremony, equipment was gathered up and we had lunch. We dined in a conference room that featured Michael Johnson talking about performance and preparedness for athletes training for the upcoming Olympics in Rio De Janero in 2016. It was an outstanding day for me and will go down in my list of wonderful archery moments…………………..and I have had a few. All too soon this great moment was over and I had to head back home to Houston but I have photos, video and will remember this moment for a long time.

Rick Stonebraker

Rick filmed an example of Matt's Shot Cycle  Second Video

Addendums:

 

Matt's webpage

Matt has set a world record before. Here's a link to a video of that event.
(He's got a LOT of videos on Youtube)

Wikipedia Entry for Matt

Find and Friend Matt on Facebook

Video from cellphone of entire event - appproximately 14 minutes, by David Jacks(83+ meg)

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