Nicky Hunt calm on closing Olympic gap

Hunt is a former world number one in the compound

Ipswich's Nicky Hunt is remaining calm about her chances of catching the country's top recurve archers in time for the London 2012 trials next year.

Hunt has switched from compound to recurve in pursuit of an Olympic place.

And she has been competing in the National Series where she has been able to asses the level of her competitors in the discipline.

"Whether I'm going to reach that in this summer season, I'm not sure," the 26-year-old told BBC Radio Suffolk.

"But we've got a big block over the winter in the build-up to the Olympic trials in the spring, so it's not the end of the world if I'm not making the top scores quickly."

Hunt, who won two gold medals in the compound at last year's Commonwealth Games and is a former world number one in the discipline, is 10th in the National Series recurve standings.

But her sixth place at Lilleshall two weeks ago has given her confidence that she can close the gap on the country's top performers, like five-time Olympian Alison Williamson.

"I've got an enormous respect for my Great Britain counterparts, these are not easy competitors," she said.

"There's things you can learn by watching people, but my main task is to work closely with the coach Lloyd Brown and build on my technique.

"I've got a lot of the mental side of the game from my compound days that's very transferable and it's a case of building the shot and putting it together.

"There are certainly peaks and troughs, this year is going to be one of the hardest of my life."