Archers Talkin' Archery - An Interview with Lea Chadwell

1 – What is your favourite dinosaur?
Dracorex
2 – What club are you a member of?
Neuse River
3 – What is your preferred shooting style?
Trad, ELB, and Olympic recurve
4 – How did you get into archery?
A back injury took me away from horseback riding and I wanted to find another competitive sport. The fact that it’s an actual weapon…huge plus.
5 – Who is your favourite fictional archer? Nesryn Faliq (Throne of Glass series)
6 – What is your favourite competition type?
3D
7 – What is your favourite shooting venue?
Sage Creek
8 – What is your favourite weather to shoot in?
Pre tick season in the spring.
9 – Would you rather do archery whilst riding a unicorn or a pegasus?
Unicorn
10 – What is the oddest thing you have seen during a competition?
An arrow with a broken nock explode in a compound bow. Quite shocking.
11 – What is the highest level of competition you have shot in?
I inadvertently made it onto Team USA and competed in the World 3D Championships. I came in last. I'm literally the Last in the World.
12 – What is the best shot you have made in a competition?
Any one that doesn’t result in a lost arrow, really.
13 – Which fictious archers would you want on your side for a team match?
I guess Hawkeye. He has good trick arrows.
14 – What are your goals in archery?
Fun. Competition. Get more women involved in trad (not many in my area).
15 – What is your proudest achievement in the sport?
Did I mention I’m Last in the World?
16 – What is the best advice you have been given in archery?
Get your elbow back.
17 – How do you think you would have fared in the stone age with a bow and arrows?
Last in the Stone Age
18 – What is the one thing you really enjoy in the sport?
It keeps me humble.
19 – What one thing in the sport irritates you the most?
When people feel like they have to make excuses for missing. We all miss. Embrace it.
20 – What would you like to see in terms of improvement within archery as a sport? Less snobbery. All archery is good.
21 – What do you think would make a great mascot for the sport of archery?
Aardvark
22 – Who is your most fervent supporter?
My husband.
23 – If you could shoot another bow style, what would it be?
Horse bow
24 – Any advice for girls/women in archery?
Just get into it. Try it. Show up. Yes, it’s a bunch of dudes, but we have our place in this sport, too.

You can find Lea Chadwell on Instagram as @st.fatty.lambhands and I do recommend subscribing to her YouTube channel, @bowsanderrors4017, too!
Photo, Lego cover photo, credit - Matt Latimer
Photos of Lea Chadwell credit - Lea Chadwell