Highlight waiting for councillor after a long career as a marksman
More than 40 years after he first represented South Africa as a marksman a councillor of the Tshwane Metro will again be part of the national team that will participate in an international event on their own soil.
The World Benchrest Rimfire and Air rifle Championships will be hosted in Pretoria next year and for a local councillor in the Tshwane Metro it will be the opportunity to put the cherry on the cake of a long successful career in the sport.
Johan Jansen, a councillor who has been serving the city since 2003, is also one of South Africa’s most experienced marksmen in various categories of shooting as a sport.
Since childhood Johan Jansen has loved shooting. As a youngster he started with his air rifle in the back yard and in high school he was a member of the .22 shooting team.
In 1973 Jansen started bisley target shooting in the .308 centre fire calibre over 300 to 1000 yards. Three years later he earned his Springbok colours and he was part of the national team that participated in the Palma World long distance championships over 800, 900 and 1 000 yards at Camp Perry in the USA. South Africa finished second to the USA in that competition.
Jansen was again selected for the Springbok team that beat Rhodesia in Bloemfontein in 1978.
Years later, in 2007, Johan started participating in field target air rifle shooting where he soon became chairperson of the South African Field Target Airgun Association and served in that capacity for five years.
He also became president of the World Field Target Federation in which position he served for four years. During this period Jansen was team manager of the Protea Field Target Team at every annual World Championships event and for four consecutive years the South Africans finished second to England out of 30-member countries.
In 2015 Jansen changed to the less physical discipline of benchrest air rifle shooting and immediately achieved success. He qualified for the 2017 Protea team in the open class that participated in the World Cup matches in Slovenia.
At that event South Africa excelled in the air rifle Heavy Varmint class where the country’s three teams finished first, second and seventh out of 31 teams. In the individual competition the South African teams won seven of the top ten places with the gold medal winner, Billy Chamberlain, setting a new World Record.
The 2019 World Benchrest Rimfire and Air rifle Championships will be hosted in Pretoria, where local marksmen will enjoy home range advantage.
At age 75 councillor Johan Jansen has already qualified for the 2019 Protea Team – 43 years after being selected for the Springbok bisley team for the first time. So, next year, he will have the opportunity to test his talents against the world’s best in his hometown.
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