Hailing From: Sutton in Ashfield, Nottinghamshire England
Throwing Since: 2017
Having thrown in every major competition in the United Kingdom since starting his athletic vocation seven years ago, Paul Swain jumped deep into Sports Throwing from the beginning. Twice he was his country’s representative at the Euro Thrower World Championships, in 2018 in Rýmařov of the Czech Republic and in 2019 in Newark, England. An Aim Games veteran with 17 tournaments under his belt, it’s only natural that 3-Meter Rotational Knife is both his favorite category and strongest, most well known skill. Interestingly, The Butcher was introduced to Sports Throwing through his introduction to archery. He tells us Daniel Mosley, one of his two biggest influences and one of the first Aim Games athletes, gave him his first archery lesson, during which he saw “all the knife and axe targets. I had no idea what they were for, and he described what they do. I asked if I could come and join them, and I threw my first knives and axes and I was absolutely hooked”. He cites John Taylor, another Aim Games veteran who helped establish the Sports Throwing scene in the U.K., as his second biggest influence, giving credit for teaching him much of what he knows.
As someone who has been playing the Aim Games for nearly all their Sports Throwing career, Paul says he has come to love all facets of the tournaments and the excitement of the overall experience. “The excitement starts several weeks before launch. It's the little snippets you get from Rick, hints and colorful slides. Two weeks before, and it starts to get you pumped. Then it's one week. Three days. It's happening tomorrow. Then the day comes and you get all the slides and rules. You learn the game. You get your sprays out, your rulers, and your pencils. You build your target and you have your first go at it. That's exciting for me. That's what I really like about the Aim Games. The second thing I like is to watch others and see how they progress because there's some fantastic throwers out there, and just to watch them and track how they do and the little battles at the top that you see, is something I really enjoy. I absolutely love the Aim Games, it's the highlight for every 80 days that it runs. Sports Throwing is a passion that we all share. Even though we’re thousands of miles away, we can be united through the throwing.”
Nickname Backstory:
“Everybody knows me by what I do for a living, I’m a butcher. If there were any competitions or barbecues, it was always the butcher's sausage or the butcher’s burger that we had, because they were the best. When everybody found out I was a butcher, that's what they called me, the butcher”.
Advice to New Throwers:
“Be patient and don't overthrow yourself, but to quote John Taylor, his three words were always ‘practice, practice, practice’. That's what makes a good thrower, you've got to practice”.
Notable Achievements:
Outside the Aim Games, Paul held the U.K. record in the 3-Meter Rotational Knife category for three years, with a 102 point score out of 105.
Inside the Aim Games, he wears a rank of one Superstar and has achieved six top 20 placements from October 2018 to June 2022, taking 7th place in 'K18 Pirate Island'.