This year, retired Mililani Uka Elementary principal Phyllis Shipman, who turns 61 next month, reached the Sweet 16 at the trials but could not advance to the final day.

Shipman, who moved full time to the Arco/U.S. Olympic Training Center near San Diego in January 2003, dealt with her disappointment the same way she had advised hundreds of grammar school kids in her "previous life:" She moved on.

"As I look back, it's still a surprise even to me," said Shipman, who would have been the oldest woman on the U.S. Olympic team. "Even though I know I can shoot with them, the reality that I've gotten to be as competent as I am ... that's a surprise to me."

Wyoming's Jennifer Nichols, the best U.S. hope for a medal in Athens, won the trials. The other two Olympic slots were up for grabs between a bunch that included Shipman, whose progress would have been dramatic for a person half her age.

She returned to the sport in 1996 after retirement. Shipman hadn't touched a bow since trying the sport at Pennsylvania College for Women as a way of avoiding P.E. class.

She was an archery All-American in 1964 and '65, then moved to Hawai'i when she worked with the Peace Corps in 1965. Her options after retirement could have been her hobbies — snorkeling, wind surfing and gardening. She also confesses to a keen interest in photography.

Instead, Shipman, who calls herself "definitely not an athlete," returned to archery with a shocking vengeance. She now holds six world masters records, has been ranked among the Top 10 in the world, finished ninth at the 2003 World Team Trials and "just happens to have a knack for this archery business."

Archery went from "fun" to "recreation" to something much more serious when she found herself immersed in it. When the governing organization offered her the opportunity to train — "they could see more potential than I could see" — Shipman jumped in with all her arrows.

"If you stay with these things, you cross over the line and want to win," Shipman said. "You have a very different outlook on what you do and how you train. It's much more business-like. It's still very cool."

While her family stayed back in Sunset Beach, Shipman trained in California and competed all over the world. She shot 300 arrows a day, walked the 70-meter (229 feet, 8 inches) course relentlessly, and got her first taste of weight training.

She thrived.

"You have a very relaxed focus," Shipman said. "I still find archery very energizing for me. That's what really got me shooting more and more. I go to the range in Kapolei and in an hour or so I really feel mentally refreshed. That, as much as anything else, kept me going and still does."

The sum of her three roommates' ages added up to hers, but it wasn't as if she was there to call them into the office.

"We were peers," Shipman said. "I have absolutely no regrets about any of it. It was a remarkable experience. I met so many people. As an educator, you have to really like kids and I really do. I enjoyed living with all these people so much younger and they were always willing to help me."

Shipman was not exactly shooting at unexplored targets. The oldest female medalist in an individual event in Olympic history was Sybil "Queenie" Newell of Great Britain. She won the gold in archery in 1908, at the age of 53 years, 277 days.

Shipman won't rule out giving Newell a run for her medal in 2008. She's enjoying her time in Hawai'i now and will shoot in the nationals next week. After that, she plans to go where her spirit moves her.

"Some colleagues have been shooting since they were 6 and they're burned out," Shipman said. "They're looking forward to moving on with their lives and maybe coming back in 2008, but most of all they are really ready to get some time away. I'm still young enough, so to speak, in the sport that I still really enjoy shooting."

So is 2008 a possibility? "Anything is possible," Shipman said. "I'll see where I am two years out. I just don't know. I really like to shoot."

Now, it's time to catch up with her family — husband, Chuck, children Tayo and Leah, mother-in-law Pearl and the rest of the extended 'ohana, particularly a bunch of supportive principals and fellow archers.

"I've had a lot of encouragement and sustained support," Shipman said. "When I thought how silly is this? What am I doing? People were really encouraging."

For good reason, it turns out.