Play Action Sports Blog

Image courtesy of World News

He’s a world champion. He can pulverize a desert gecko with an M14 from 600 yards out. He was selected to compete against what some consider the sharpest shooters on the planet. And he almost won.

His name is Kelly Bachand and he’s 23 years old.

The History Channel is already in the midst of season 2 but it’s back to reality for the electrical engineering student, who recently spoke to us about his TOP SHOT experience.

His day begins at the crack of dawn, about 30 miles away from the University of Washington. Several times a week, Bachand boards a public bus to campus and doesn’t return until darkness falls. In his free time? The rifle expert studies and earns his living as a master installer at a local Best Buy. In all areas of his life, he excels. Bachand has the clear markings of a true champion and an individual who won’t settle for anything less than perfection.

When we watched season 1, we assumed Bachand had prepared, trained, studied and borderline obsessed about making the cut. This couldn’t have been further from the truth.

“A friend of mine that I shoot with locally, sent me an e-mail in January of last year. She suggested I apply for it. The audition tapes were due at the end of that week – I didn’t expect anything from it. It’s just something I did,” Bachand says.

Next, I ask the marksman what his expectations were, once he got word from the producers that he’d been selected. Although Bachand admits to not having any preconceived notions about the show, he was still continually surprised.

“I didnt even think of that – that there would teams and someone would get sent home every week. In my head, before I went there, I think I imagined it would be like one of the competitions I go to. I was just totally off,” he says.

So, did the cocky, calm and at times, aloof red team member have a SWAT-like strategy to further himself along in the competition? He says no.

“I didn’t initially have a strategy until the first episode. I realized that everyone on the team thought the only experience I ever had in my whole life was with shooting rifles.” So he decided to roll with it and allow his castmates to believe he was far exceeding the expectations they had of him. With almost every challenge, the Seahawk fan denied having any expertise at all. Bachand certainly wasn’t out winning secret shotgun competitions but his first job was at a shotgun range. He was not a professional trick shooter yet worked with pistols extensively during his ROTC marksmanship training in high school.

“I just let people think I was a novice. I always smiled in the inside when people made comments on how young I was or how little I knew.”

Oddly enough, Bachand’s favorite challenge was the one that sent him home.

“I did get a little bit of a raw deal in having to go first…it was a little bit of a disadvantage. The shots were not difficult; the targets were huge (he estimated about 18 inches). I spent way too much time making each shot perfect and loading extra rounds. I think if I had analzyed the situation a little bit more going up the hill, I could’ve done a little bit better,” he reveals. And in this case, a “little better” could’ve equated to shaving one or two crucial seconds that would have sent him to the next and final round.

Excluding that round, the peacemaker challenge was the only team competition Bachand struggled with. He explains, “I was trying to rush myself. I was going too quick and lost fundamentals when timing became an issue.”

In the middle of filming, fellow cast member Tara Poremba abruptly left the show due to the declining health of her elderly father. Unbeknownst at the time, Bachand was grappling with his own private matter.

“My dad’s mother passed away a day before the top 50 casting, which was in February of last year. Her memorial was held during the first week of filming – I remember missing that and I felt really down but I didn’t tell anyone about it,” Bachand says quietly. He adds, “I tried to keep my personal life out of it. I don’t care to let America know too much about my personal life.”

If he had to do it all over again, Bachand wishes he would’ve stressed less and had more fun. Meanwhile, his plans for the future include a trip Down Under, graduating and a few snowboarding lessons.

Above all else, we wanted to know how life has changed for this part-time auto tech/full-time college student.

“My life is really normal. The only difference is once a while, someone will say, ‘Hey, are you Kelly from TOP SHOT?’ And I smile and say, ‘Yes, I am.’”

More top-shot videos:

© 2011, Kalea Yoshida. All rights reserved.