This article is from page 33 of the 2007-10-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 33 JPG
A COORACLARE student made history last week with a group of colleagues from the Galway Mayo Institute of Technology.
Thomas (Tommy) Breen was part of the determined GMIT Archery Club that broke the Guinness World Record 28-hour indoor shoot.
Through the gruelling feat the stu- dents also raised more than €4,000 for the People in Need Trust.
Ten per cent of the money was raised in Tommy’s home parish of Cooraclare.
The charity shoot took place in the GMIT Sports Hall from 2.30pm on
Friday, October 19 to 9pm Saturday, October 20.
Bandaged elbow and plastered fin- gers Tommy was one of the six to continue shooting to the bitter end.
The 21-year-old is the son of Tho- mas and Imy Breen and has a brother and sister.
He 1s a past pupil of Cooraclare Na- tional School and St Michael’s Sec- ondary School Kilmihil,
It was when he went to GMIT three years ago that Tommy found his sporting niche in archery.
Since then the architectural tech- nology student has won numerous awards in the sport.
Based in the Mayo campus, Tom-
my was one of 20 students including stewards that took part in the GMIT charity shoot, with many travelling from UL, DIT and DCU to support and take part in the event.
Eleven shooters took on the 28- hour challenge and six, including the Cooraclare man completed the task.
The €4,000 raised by the students was handed over to a representative of the People in Need Trust later that week. The proceeds will be distrib- uted to a number of charitable organ- isations throughout the county.
Thomas Barrett, Captain, GMIT Archery Club, who initiated the charity shoot, said it was a thorough- ly enjoyable experience.
“Thank you to everyone who sup- ported us, to the many sponsors, GMIT staff and students, and mem- bers of the media who helped publi- cise the event.”
GMIT Archery Club was estab- lished in the early 1980s by Hotel and Catering lecturer Robert Dagger and was the first college to start the Intervarsity competition in this sport. The club currently has over 30 arch- ers and up to one hundred members, with branches in the Dublin Road and Castlebar campuses.