A cadet from 267 (Twickenham) Squadron has been selected to fence as part of the Great Britain Women’s under-17 Fencing squad.

Not content just to represent Great Britain once, Cadet Corporal Tara Crank has already competed in two international competitions.

Her first was based in Grenoble, South-East France, where she competed with over 250 of the finest fencers from all over the world.

The competition in Grenoble was tough and a big learning experience for Tara, who came 216 out of 254 competitors. She said: “I had a brilliant time and learnt a lot about internationals, all I can do is train harder and learn from my experience for next time, so I can do better.”

And that is exactly what she did in her second international competition in Gothenburg, Sweden, where the competition was higher and Tara reached a respectable 131^st position out of 144.

Cdt Cpl Crank began fencing in Primary School – experiencing it for the first time on an activity holiday. She found it such an enjoyable sport that as soon as she returned home she found a local fencing club. She joined straight away, starting a beginners’ summer course at Whitton sports centre before joining the local “Tiger Swords” fencing club with her now coach, Neale Thomas.

Fencing is historically one of the oldest sports around today. It requires competitors to be extremely fit athletes as they need to demonstrate speed, skill and dexterity with the sword. The modern day competition is so fast that it has to be judged electronically rather than by eye!

Tara has so far won the Leon Paul Junior Series (National) in 2009 and is the current under 18 Surrey Youth Champion, but her ambition knows no boundaries and she recently set herself the target of representing Great Britain in the under 20’s category.

To achieve this goal Tara will need to improve her rankings by 22 places which is something she looks forward to achieving.

Not content on achieving in the sporting world, Tara is also achieving on her Cadet Squadron. She has been promoted to the rank of Cadet Corporal for her leadership skills, has experienced flying, gliding, is enrolled in the Duke of Edinburgh’s award scheme, has completed a Nijmegen march and has attended weekend camps, even being selected as the “best cadet” during one!.

“My Duke of Edinburgh’s expedition was another great experience - I went canoeing and by the end of the trip, I had achieved my one star award as well as having had a lot of fun.”

When asked how Tara manages to keep up with everything - school, fencing, Air Cadets and a range of other sporting interests she smiled and said: “I think that to be able to fit everything in, you've got to want to, and because I want to I manage, but I wouldn't be able to without the support of my parents.”

Just in case Tara’s experiences aren’t varied enough, she is aiming to be an equine vet in later life.