From chemotherapy to hitting bullseyes, 20-year-old sharpshooter Alec Tompkins has been chosen as this year’s Aussie Plumbers’ Hidden Talent winner. 

Pistol-shooter Alec won the 50-metre youth national title in his second outing at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) national championships in Brisbane in June 2024. 

“Before nationals, I had a bunch of tests, and when I got back I had the biopsy and serious blood tests,” he says. 

Diagnosed a week later with stage 3-4 Hodgkin’s lymphoma cancer, Alec was immediately put into chemotherapy treatment. 

Over four months, he had four rounds of chemo and 15 hits of radiation. His last round of radiation was on Christmas Eve. 

Now in remission, Alec is back into the second year of his plumbing apprenticeship with Contemporary Plumbing. 

A third-generation pistol shooter, he trains rigorously after work and competes on the weekends. 

Exactly one year after his diagnosis, Alec returned to the ISSF national championship (in Sydney this time) in June and scored two national titles and three second places. 

A training match can take up to an hour and a half, and Alec says it can sometimes be tiring to hold the pistol aloft after a full day of manual labor. 

It was one of Alec’s workmates that prompted him to enter.

“I wasn’t expecting anything out of it,” says Alec. 

But his submission to the Rheem-sponsored competition saw him shoot a perfect X (the highest score in a single shot). This was followed up with four more shots that showed the process of an ISSF shooter. His final score was 99/100. 

“I wasn’t notified that I’d won before the livestream and I was a few seconds ahead of my family when they called my name,” he says. 

“Apparently they all collectively said: ‘What! That’s pretty good!’.”

Also tuning in were Alec’s friends, many of whom had shaved their heads in solidarity with him as he went through chemo last year, and his workmates. 

Alec says he’ll put the $5000 prizemoney towards a house deposit, and recommends other plumbing apprentices have a shot at next year’s competition.