TALENTED sports star Leah Williams wants to make a splash in the pool and also on the roads this year as she strives to increase her UK ranking.

The Holy Cross Catholic High School pupil was ranked 27th at Under 13 level in the country for Biathlon last year – swimming and running – and wants to break into the top 10 in 2015.

She is ranked 16th going into this year’s competition.

“It is a big couple of years for me, especially as there have been changes in the National Schools Biathlon Championships which should suit me better,” said the 13-year-old.

“It is a 100m swim and a mile run this year and I am stronger at swimming. Next year it’s a 200m swim and one mile run so hopefully my swimming will help me. These championships are in April and I am building up to them.

“As for the swimming competitions, I was ranked 24th in the country for my age group at fly and I want to compete in the Nationals Championships at Sheffield this year and improve my ranking. A top ten finish would be fantastic.”

Leah got involved with swimming after going for lessons and found she had a talent for it and she has swum for Leyland Barracudas since she was 10-years-old.

She has competed in the Lancashire County Swimming Championships for all strokes and received numerous medals over the last three years .

In January 2013, she was the North Lancashire Top Female in her category and trains for 16 hours a week with several early morning sessions.

However, Leah decided to combine her swimming flair with her talent for running and started taking part in Biathlon’s last year. Through the encouragement of Leyland Barracudas, she has competed in a variety of Biathlon events and is now building up to the two-sport schools championships in April.

Holy Cross Deputy Headteacher Alison Rigby said: “Leah trains up to 16 hours per week and, despite being committed to her sports, still maintains her academic studies in school.

“She has incredible potential to go far in the disciplines she has chosen.”

Indeed, she was invited by National Pentathlon to attend training sessions for fencing and shooting during the summer and so her potential is recognised by the sport’s governing bodies as well.

We are proud of Leah and she invests much of her time representing school as well. She was part of our school team which won the Chorley Schools Swimming Championships and was a key performer in our athletics team.”

And, for swimming as an individual sport, she was placed in the top 24 in the country at the National Swimming Championships for her age group – and she is determined to improve on this, especially in the stroke, fly, where she excels.