Eduardo de Cobos won the 2010 European Championship
The Production division was certainly one of the most disputed in the last World Shoot in Greece. After all, 381 athletes were fighting for the title. Eduardo de Cobos was not the champion. However, the 37-year-old Spanish had a campaign to be proud of. Only behind the Americans Robert Vogel, Ben Stoeger and Matthew Mink, de Cobos got the best European position and led the Spanish Production team to a bronze medal. “It was a great achievement to our team, which is all from Tenerife, a small island in the middle of the Atlantic,” he said.
Check out this exclusive interview with Eduardo de Cobos. Passionate about practical shooting, he promises to fight for the World title in 2014. “Of course I’ll try to be champion. I am passionate about the IPSC and the more I learn during competitions, courses and training, the more I see that I can improve and this appeals to me. ”
How did you start competing in Practical Shooting? Why did you choose this sport?
I started in IPSC because of my father. He was a National Combat Shooting champion in Spain and an Olympic champion, so he’s passed this passion on to me, since I was very young. I chose IPSC because it seemed more interesting than other types of shooting sports that are practiced in Spain. Especially, due to its dynamism and variety.
It is undoubtedly the most exciting sport in the world of weapons.
You have already competed in the Open division, tried Standard, and now you have been shooting in Production. Why have you chosen the Production Division?
De Cobos already competed in three different divisions
Well, between Open and Production, I went through Standard and Modified. But actually, I really started in Production when, in Spain, weapons of this type (minor factor ones) were the easiest to acquire. Then, I started shooting in the Open division, but my entering the police force in 2001 made me switch to Standard, since the Open weapons are less important in the police competitions. However, the maintenance and the ammunition for this kind of weapon got too expensive for me, especially when the SPS, which sponsored me, had its Heads changed and the sponsorship was cancelled. In that same year, 2005, Production became the official division in Spain. I did not think twice. I could compete with a series weapon and shoot with its original ammo. It was a luxury. It also turned out to be the most economical option because it did not cost me much to change equipment. The first time I won the national championship in Production, I did it with the gun I use at work.
What is your daily preparation as an athlete like?
I try to mix various training systems which have been bringing good results. Along with the live-fire training, from which I developed five programs, I practice dry fire, with two programs that I alternate with my work at the academy and exercises in an obstacle stage. In certain seasons along the year I change swimming for jogging.
You split your time as an athlete with another professional activity. What is it like?
Eduardo de Cobos training police officers in Spain
Part of my job as a police officer is in weapon instruction and shooting. But I usually have to adapt my training schedule according to my work schedule. The night shifts, for example, compromise my training program too. It is very difficult to maintain a strong training program when you have a job with such irregular schedule which changes all the time, like the one I have in my police unit. But I got used to it little by little and my superiors help a lot too. The sacrifice is sometimes rewarded and it encourages you to go on. Although many people believe that the police work helps to be able to shoot better, the truth is that we have the worst table-times that an athlete can take.
Was there any special preparation for the IPSC World Shoot?
The preparation for the World Shoot was the result of many years of training and a quarterly training program. As I said, it was a combination of various types of training, in a way that they matched, adjusting working schedules, it all works in the end.
What was the preparation of the Spanish Production team for the World Shoot like? Do Spanish athletes usually shoot together? Were you assisted by a coach?
Eduardo coached the Spanish Production team
The Spanish team got prepared in a very hard way. We do not have the chance of training much, as other teams do, because our ammunition is very limited, between 200 and 600 shots a week on average. It was me who coached the team, which is all from the island of Tenerife, and they sweat blood. It may sound exaggerated, but I’m sure that the physical work required in training to compensate for the lack of ammunition was not done anywhere else in the world. In the end, we got the bronze medal for teams in Production, a great achievement to our team, which comes from a small island in the Atlantic Ocean. This confirms my theory that hard training brings benefits at the end of the road.
You’ve been progressing in the last World Shoot Championships. From 11th in 2005, to 6th in 2008 and now a 4th place. In which ways do you think you can go further and be a champion in 2014?
Being World Champion today is really hard, you have to dedicate heart and soul, but that does not mean it is impossible. Also, personally, I believe that to win a World Shoot first you have to be prepared to be the last. Only in this case you can take the pressure and do the best you can. And that, easier said than done, costs a lot. Of course I’ll try to be champion. I am passionate about the IPSC and the more I learn during competitions, courses and training, the more I see that I can improve and this appeals to me.
What will your preparation to the next World Shoot be like?
It will be a difficult preparation. I have a lot of information accumulated over the past two years, during which I got prepared for the European Championship and the World Shoot. I have to organize all this information in my mind. On Monday, right after the World Shoot, I started a work that will give me some time to overcome the opponent that gives me more problems in the competitions. And this opponent is myself. Once organized, this material will give me a great advantage to prepare for the next competitions. I know I can improve 100%. Now, I just need time to do it.