After smashing Scottish archery records, a third-year student has brought back the Mixed-Teams bronze medal competing for Team GB in Bulgaria.
His first time competing in an international event, crack-shot William Anderson, 20, only took up barebow archery when he came to university in 2023.
“I’ve only been doing it for about two and a half years. I was always interested in it, so I went to the sports union here and saw the archery society. I thought I’ll try it out and see how it goes.
“I was a bit socially awkward when I joined, especially since I had moved away from home. But everyone in the club is so friendly, and it’s been a great experience.
“And I was horrendous, like awful. Then every single day I thought keep going, keep going, keep going.”
Rising through the ranks in Scotland at exceptional speed, William beat the previous Scottish 18-metre barebow record, 523, by a single point, 524. On the same weekend, he beat his own record with a score of 538 and holds it to this day.
He then went on to secure the Scottish outdoor 50-metre barebow records as well.
Naturally, William was scouted for the Scotland team. He enjoyed competing so much that he began to put himself forward for as many as he could, always looking to increase his score.
“I now do it semi-professionally,” he added.
Competing for Team GB
In late 2025, he found that his scores were high enough that he could enter himself into the European Indoor Championships. Encouraged to do so by his coach, Steven Brison, his scores were submitted.
Soon after, he was ecstatic to find that he had been selected to represent Team GB in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. But one final challenge lay ahead before he could compete: cash.
“The only unfortunate thing about this competition was it had to be fully self-funded. So, it was quite a pricey one.”
Fortunately for William, it wasn’t long before the support poured in.
“I did a GoFundMe and all the Scottish archers; the community I’m a part of, supported it. Because of them, essentially the whole trip was paid for.
“I reached my goal of £1650 in less than 48 hours and actually surpassed it. It got up to £2165. I actually couldn’t believe how much was raised.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without their support. It really did bring a tear to my eye.”
William described the moment when he landed his last arrow almost perfectly in the centre of the target, winning bronze medals for himself and his teammate, Illaria Knibb.
“I’ve never been more nervous for a single shot than I was in that moment.
“With less than a second left on the clock, I shot and banged it right into the nine just outside the ten. The cheer from the whole team watching us was insane.
“We got the medals, and we were the first ones to win for Team GB in the event. It was amazing.”
Olympic Aspirations
But what next for William? The next Olympic games, to be held in Los Angeles in 2028, is not so far away. Though he would love to compete, he shared with TJJ some disheartening news.
“There’s a big problem with that. The bow style I shoot is called barebow, and sadly it’s only officially been recognized by World Archery, not the Olympics.
“It has a really popular community; however, this isn’t actually done at the Olympics at all. It’s only recurve and compound bow styles that are in the Olympics.
“But the archers that have supported me in the community have asked me if I would be interested in trying out the recurve because they think I have the skill to get into it. So, I think this summer, I’ll give that a try.
“I’m going to see what kind of other competitions I can get in to, but the Olympics, it’s a long way off.”
If you want to support William, his archery journey can be followed throughout the world on his Instagram: williams_archery_page.
Alternatively, William encourages any interested student to join the Dundee University Archery Club.
Spotted a mistake? Email thejutejournal@dusamedia.com and we’ll look at it. Read our corrections policy.