The King’s School is delighted to have 11 pupils currently with English, Welsh and British national honours or international honours.

Llewelyn Bevan, aged 13, of Tattenhall, is ranked third in Wales for tennis for his age group, but aiming to be number one. His best ranking to date was ninth in Britain and first in Wales for aged 12 and under.

This summer he plays in the British national competitions, Tennis Europe and Welsh nationals, where he hopes to get a final place.

Zoe Soutter, aged 17, of Hawarden, attended the rowing GB training camp in December and will be racing at the GB small boats trials at the end of April.

Matthew Willis, 14, of Marford, was crowned the national champion of English Schools’ Cross Country (junior boys). Matthew was then selected to represent school and country at the International Schools’ Cross Country Championships in March. Here Matt was narrowly beaten into second place by the Republic of Ireland’s Patrick Maher. Matthew achieved the top UK ranking. In addition, his other achievements to date are: British Triathlon Champion, ranked second in UK for 1,500m (U14 boys) and also ranked first in UK for 3,000m (U14 boys).

Sixth former Sara Ashworth, 18, of Bunbury, had a fantastic 2013/14 season. Her sport is eventing which includes all the three equestrian disciplines of dressage, cross country and show jumping.

In September 2013 Sara was selected as first reserve for the Junior British Team that competed at the Junior European Championships, having come fourth at the National Under 18 Championships. After more trials in the summer Sara was selected as first reserve for the British team.

Sara has also been awarded a place on the Sport England-funded BEF Excel Talent Programme Eventing Squad. This is designed to find a pool of young talented athletes and help them progress through the system to the World Class Programme.

George Nott, a Year 13 student of Mold, played in the Premiership Rugby U18 League with Sale Sharks and played in the A-League with Sale Jets, reaching the semi finals. He currently plays for Chester RUFC first team in the National 2 North League.

George has been selected for the England U18 Rugby squad. He played against Scotland for England U18 and will be competing in the European Championships with England U18.

Isobel Wild, aged 14, of Mold, is ranked ninth for all women in Wales and second in Britain for 50m freestyle and is the top swimmer in Wales for her age group for 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, and 800m freestyle.

Her brother, Sam Wild, aged 16, is ranked 17th for all men in Wales for 50m butterfly and is the top swimmer for his age group for 50m butterfly. Both raced for Wales at the Tri-Nations championship.

Siobhan Benson, aged 14, of Mold, competed in the Welsh Indoor Athletics Championships in February. Siobhan came second in the 200m U15 girls’ category.

Her time also ranks her second fastest in Wales for this indoor season so far.

Siobhan also recently ran in the UK U15 championships in Sheffield and reached the semi finals of the 200m. In both her heat and the semi Siobhan ran under the English Schools’ standard of 26.5 seconds – her personal best is now 26.47.

Zed Spencer-Milne, aged 14, of Upton, is a member of the UK Windsurfing National Junior Squad and is competing on Lake Garda at the European Championships this month.

Year 11 student Tommy Speed, from Chester, has represented England as part of the Independent School Football Association team.

Jack Meadows, aged 17, of Chester, plays for Great Britain Roller Hockey and was part of the 2013 World championship gold medal team for U16s.

Sam Jones, aged 17, of Tilston, was selected in 2013 for the U16 national team of the Independent Schools Football Association. The team travelled to Madrid on tour, playing against both Real Madrid and Athletico Madrid and stayed in the training base used by the Spanish team.

Alex Slater, currently in Year 12, of Churton, has been invited to the GB Rowing spring assessments for the top 20 sweep J18 athletes in the UK.

Jack Webber, from Chester, in Year 13, and Sarah Lusher in Year 12, of Little Neston, will be attending the GB small boat trials in April in a bid to win a seat in the GB European Championship team.

King’s rowers Aaron Soutter, aged 17, of Hawarden, Ben Monk, aged 17, of Pulford, Bronwen Hulme, aged 16, of Gresford, Maud Moir, aged 16, of Chester, Fiona McDonald, aged 16, of Eryrys, Olivia Rogerson, aged 16, of Poulton, Natalie Tomlinson, aged 16, of Rossett, Rebekah Hagan, aged 15, of Tilston, Natasha Tudor, aged 15, of Kelsall, Anna Willis, aged 15, of Marford and Megan Pode, aged 17, of Kingswood, will all be attending the Wales U18 trials later this month to win a seat in the Welsh Rowing team for this summer.

High performance sports girls and boys at King’s are supported by the PE department teachers who work together with the students and their parents to ensure King’s can give as much support as possible.

High performance sportsmen and women often need time off school to pursue their sports and extra support to ensure the requirements of the disciplines of their respective sports can be dovetailed with the needs of their academic education.

Although pupils’ academic education always comes first at King’s, the school produces many top sportsmen and women who thrive here.

King’s director of sport, Richard Lunn, said: “King’s has some very talented top performers in their specialist sports and we try to ensure that we can give them as much support as is possible, within the parameters of the academic education we offer.

“We offer a Gifted and Talented programme at U13 and U14 level, where areas such as target setting, mental preparation and conditioning are covered and afterwards work with parents when required in a number of areas ranging from supporting pupils academically to ensuring they are getting sufficient nutrition for their needs.”