2023 Island Games: Sark shooter Nick Dewe hopes to extend medal-winning run

Nick Dewe has won shooting medals at the last seven Island Games he has competed at

Sark trap shooter Nick Dewe hopes he can add to his medal tally when he competes at next month's Island Games.

Dewe has won medals at his last seven Island Games, both individually and with team-mate Stefan Roberts.

He will return to Guernsey, where he made his Island Games debut 20 years ago and where he regularly shoots.

"Everybody wants to get gold and be on top of the podium, but medals of any kind are good as far as I'm concerned," Dewe told BBC Radio Guernsey.

Dewe has won two gold medals, five silver and three bronze in his 20-year career as he and Roberts ensure the smallest Island Games team punches well above its weight.

There will only be Dewe, Roberts and archer Jane Norwich representing Sark - another archer Kevin Adams has been forced to pull out as he is set to undergo hip surgery.

"I've done eight Island Games and memories of all the islands are different," adds Dewe.

"One that sticks in my mind is Shetland in 2005 when I won my first silver medal, that's always a good memory when you see the Sark flag hoisted up the pole.

"It was a feeling of achievement and a great honour to be representing your own home island."

The games in Jersey in 2015 have been Dewe's high-water mark so far - he won universal trap team gold and automatic trap team bronze with Roberts as well as a silver in the automatic ball trap event.

Four years earlier the pair won automatic ball trap gold to add to team silver medals they had won in the previous three Island Games.

"It's very instinctive shooting, you've got to try and relax and keep your mind focused on the target and nothing else," he says.

"As soon as you see that target you've got to attack it and shoot it as quick as possible."

Having won a medal at each of the last seven Island Games he has competed in, can he go on and make it eight successive events where he has made the podium?

"The competition's going to be stiff," Dewe says.

"There's a lot of up and coming shooters on the other islands that have definitely made big steps forward.

"You're always going to be against the Menorcans, they're red hot, and others are doing well, but we'll try our best and try and get on the podium."