A BARROW archer has his sights set on the Tokyo Olympics after being selected for a Great Britain development programme.

Tom Alexander, 17, has shot to the top after just two-and-a-half years of stringing his bow.

The teenager hit the bullseye with the Bowmen of Furness club, coming through a beginners’ course in May 2013 and shooting higher and higher as time has gone on.

Alexander is part of the Cumbria county squad and takes part in regular competitions.

His displays have seen him offered a place as a Performance Academy Athlete on Archery GB’s Olympic Performance Pathway programme, where he is now part of the Northern Academy.

“I was at a county squad training day in Penrith and Kath Fitzpatrick, a GB Archery coach was attending as a guest for one of the coaching sessions,” said the talented teenager.

“After watching me during the day she told me that she wanted me on the National Talent Development programme.”

That involved Alexander attending Lilleshall National Sports Centre for centralised benchmarking and coaching sessions, which led to him being placed in the Northern Academy.

He attends weekend training camps once a month at Bishop Burton College, near Hull, where the team practice archery under the guidance of some of the best coaches in the country and work on their physical stamina and the mental side of competing in the sport.

Alexander added: “A typical day at training camp starts at 6:30am and goes through to lights out at 10:30pm.

“You get one-to-one coaching while shooting, workshops with specialists, such as nutritionists, physiotherapists, sports biomechanics and many more each coming to different monthly camps.”

As well as the county and regional training camps, Alexander still works hard with Bowmen of Furness’s Geoff Weeks, who has taken him under his wing since he completed the beginners’ course.

Weeks has been delighted with the progress made by his young charge, and said: “You could see his potential from the start. He learnt very fast and he had a good style right from the beginning.

“Once his confidence was strengthened, it was just a case of how hard he worked and what he put into it.

“He has stuck in really hard, trains all the time and it has paid off. He is improving very fast and every two or three weeks he seems to get better. There is no reason he can’t achieve whatever goals he wants.”

Alexander said of Weeks: “Without Geoff, I would not have advanced as I have, and I appreciate all the advice, his time and I’m extremely grateful for his continued support and coaching.”

The youngster has also been helped out by sponsorship from CJS Cars, who have helped pay for some of his arrows to the appreciation of Alexander and his family.

Alexander’s weekends still see him travel around the country competing in various archery competitions, while during the week his is an engineering student at Furness College.

His evenings see more training, both with the Bowmen of Furness and at Hawcoat Park, with around 800 arrows fired each week to hone his skills.

Alexander’s parents, Mark and Marie, have helped out with transportation to competitions and training camps over the past few years, and Mark said: “Tom is committed and organises his time really well between college and his training programme, but has had to give up a lot of his free time.”

Anyone interested in helping Tom Alexander through sponsorship can contact his parents, Mark and Marie, on 01229 227261.