Chadlington's Amy Turner is targeting success at the Tokyo 2020 after being selected for the Olympic Development Programme for sprint kayak.

It followed her performances at the international selection regatta early last month.

The former Cokethorpe School pupil, 21, is part of the Girls4Gold British Canoeing World Class Programme, which fast-tracks athletes who show medal potential for Japan.

She switched to kayaking at 18 after reluctantly giving up horse eventing for financial reasons to pursue her Olympic dream. "I had never heard of sprint kayaking until I looked down the list of Olympic sports and I saw it," said Turner.

"I found my local canoe club (Banbury) and organised my first session on the water and the rest is history.

"In addition to event riding, I also swam at county level so I knew I had some feel for the water, but by the end of the first session I thought it could be the sport for me.

"Before I started kayaking I had a huge phobia of fish and would refuse to swim in the sea.

"Sprint kayaks are very wobbly when you first start and you end up spending a lot of time in the water, but I'm much more comfortable now."

She was combining training at Banbury with studying for a BSc in sports science at Oxford Brookes before joining the scheme in 2013 where she completed a tough selection procedure with 500 candidates whittled down to 12 successful applicants.

The canoeist, who hopes to emulate fellow Brit and Olympic champion Ed McKeever, now trains at the national watersports centre after relocating to Nottingham.

Turner, who trains three times a day, added: "Six years is actually not much time to get to Olympic medallist standard and our training programme reflects that.

"Being selected is a big step in the right direction as it means I’m getting closer to selection for World and European Championships."

She added: "To compete at an Olympic games is the ultimate goal and would be the culmination of many years of dedication to the sport.

"The experience of competition against the best in the world and being involved in that atmosphere would be incredible."