Sgt. Tatyana Danylyshyn, from Victoria’s Canadian Scottish Regiment, was the best shot in the service rifle category at the annual shooting competition held in Bisley, a village southwest of London. The competition took place between June 21 and July 1.

The third time was a charm for the 29-year-old, who had placed second in the two previous competitions in Bisley.

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“Second almost feels like a curse for me,” she said. “At Canadian nationals, I’ve come second a couple times and always dancing around [first place].”

Danylyshyn competed in two of the three weapons categories: service rifle and service pistol.

She was part of a 20-member team from the Canadian Armed Forces which placed in the top three of nearly all matches entered against 700 military shooters from around the world.

Danylyshyn is also a coach for cadets in the Canadian Scottish Regiment and she hopes her accomplishment will inspire more female reservists to take up shooting.

“Shooting has a persona about it of being super masculine and tough and you see it in all the action movies,” she said, but noted it’s a sport that anyone can master.

“Your trigger is seven pounds of pressure, anyone can pull that,” she said. “A fit female can do just as well as a male.”

Danylyshyn said the most important quality a shooter should have is trust in themselves.

“To be a really good shooter, you have to look at yourself with a clear eye and see what you're doing and try to do better,” she said. “Women are always scrutinizing themselves, but in this case, it works really well. You can look at yourself honestly.”

Danylyshyn’s father David, who lives in Vancouver, said he couldn’t be more proud of his daughter, the oldest of three kids.

“I taught all my kids to read, to swim and to shoot before they started school,” he said.

David Danylyshyn, who is quite a marksman himself, said “a teacher’s greatest pleasure is to have one’s student surpass themselves.”

He said military combat competitions are not calm and controlled like Olympic shooting but rather “hard-ass, lung-busting, very difficult trials” that try to simulate real combat shooting.

Danylyshyn is setting her sights on the Canadian championships at the Connaught Rifle Range in Ottawa in mid-September.

If she wins, not only will she get to wear the Queen’s medal, it will give her a hat trick of top rifle competitions in England, Canada and a third place finish in the U.S.

“If she wins this, it will be quite a remarkable thing,” her father said.

Danylyshyn joined the reserves in 2002 as an infantry soldier and served in Afghanistan in 2008. She also acted as a medic for fellow soldiers and civilians during combat operations which led her to pursue medical school at the University of British Columbia.

In a statement, Defence Minister Jason Kenney commended Danylyshyn for her achievement.

“Sgt. Tatyana Danylyshyn demonstrates qualities that are at the core of our Canadian Armed Forces: excellent skill, leadership, teamwork and determination,” Kenney said.

“These are the skills which ensure the Canadian Armed Forces are ready to handle any combat situation.”

kderosa@timescolonist.com