Former Burford School pupil John Church has been selected to represent Great Britain at the biennial International Championships in Perth, Australia, from July 5-20.

Tetrathlon is a multi-discipline sport comprising pistol shooting, swimming, running and riding.

Church, who attended Burford from 2005-10 and now lives in Buckland, near Faringdon, competed in his first tetrathlon at the age of ten and came home in fifth at last year’s UK National Championships.

He also represented the winning England teams in both the UK and Eire Championships and captained Central England to victory in the UK Regional Championships.

Church, who is a member of the Old Berkshire Hunt Pony Club, is delighted to have been selected for the national team.

He sees it as the highlight of his Pony Club career.

This has included qualification for the National Championships for the past six years as well as top appearances in eventing and showjumping.

At this level, competitors have to shoot from 10 metres, run a 3,000 metre cross country course, swim 300 metres and jump heights of 110 cm in the riding phase.