Marks Park archer hits her stride as with a steady hand
From overcoming injury to mastering a new shooting style, Carien Whitehead has shown a true mark of precision.
For Marks Park archer Carien Whitehead, every arrow drawn carries a flicker of excitement.
A feeling that never fades, no matter how many times she steps up to the line. “Every time you draw an arrow, it’s new. You can’t repeat the last one. It’s always something different. Sometimes it’s amazing, sometimes it’s frustrating, but that’s what keeps it exciting.”
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Whitehead, a member of Marks Park Archery, has learnt that mastery in her sport is about balance – finding calm in the highs and the lows. “To be a good archer, you have to bring the lows up to meet the highs. It’s all about consistency and equilibrium.”
Whitehead began archery during her matric year in 2002, looking for something to occupy her mind between exams. Her path was soon interrupted by a serious accident during university, which left one of her lumbar vertebrae twisted, causing severe inflammation in her bow shoulder. “It was debilitating. I couldn’t even drive. Every time I tried to increase the bow’s draw weight, the pain came back.”
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Instead of giving up, Whitehead decided to reinvent herself as an athlete – quite literally switching sides. Around 2012, she began the process of relearning archery left-handed. “That was probably the hardest thing. I had to retrain my body and my mind, adjust my dominance, and learn to aim all over again.”
Her persistence paid off. Today, she holds the title of southern regional champion in recurve archery. Her achievements include a fourth-place finish at the 2019 African Games and multiple national titles as a left-handed shooter.
This month, she’ll once again don South African colours at the 2025 African Archery Championship in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, from November 19 to 24. “Every time I travel with the team, it’s exciting. It’s an honour to represent South Africa.”
All her thanks go to Jesus. “If He hadn’t enabled me and given me these opportunities, none of this would mean anything.”
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