Young Freddie Howchin is good at sport, very good.

And it’s not just one sport that 10-year-old Freddie is good at, he’s very good at five.

You see, Freddie is a budding modern pentathlete so that means he needs to be able to run, shoot, swim, horseride and fence.

And the Bishop’s Cleeve Primary School pupil is certainly ticking all those boxes because he is already a European champion.

“He’s European Under-11 Triathle champion,” said proud dad Neil, who lives in Bishop’s Cleeve. “He won the title in Madeira in Portugal.”

Now for those who don’t know, triathle is a shorter version of modern pentathlon, comprising three disciplines – shooting, running and swimming.

But that makes Freddie’s victory no less impressive, indeed, he had to complete each discipline twice before claiming gold.

And that’s not all because Freddie then teamed up with Emily Miller from Somerset and won the mixed pairs gold as well.

So how did Freddie, who also plays football for Cleeve Rovers, get into multi-disciplined sport?

“He’s always done lots of different sports,” said his dad, “football, cycling, running, swimming.

“He was doing a biathle, which is a run, swim, run last year and he finished third.

“I got approached and was asked if I realised he’d qualified to represent Great Britain in the European Biathle and Triathle Championships in Germany!

“I was then asked, ‘Can he shoot?’”

The answer to both questions was ‘no’ but that wasn’t going to stop Freddie or his dad.

Neil borrowed a laser gun and Freddie practised his shooting in the side alley at their home for hour after hour.

“Our house was like a sports centre,” laughed Neil.

It was hard work, of course, but although Freddie was competing in the under-11 age group in Germany – his birthday is in July so some of his opponents were almost two years older than him – he still won medals in the biathle and triathle team events.

And he built on that success this year, of course, with his stunning success in Portugal and Neil said: “He’s not the best runner, swimmer or shooter but as a combination he’s very good.

“He’s also a member of a pony club and can fence – he’s won a lot of fencing competitions. He wants to go as far as he can in modern pentathlon.”

And he’s certainly got the full backing of his family

“One of his big attributes is that he’s quite relaxed, he sleeps before a race,” said Neil. “He’s not all pent up, he’s quite chilled.

“He trains hard but he doesn’t let it take over his life.”

He certainly does train hard – he swims in Cheltenham every other evening, fences in Malvern on a Wednesday and on Friday evenings he trains at Bath University which is the home of modern pentathlon in this country.

That’s where world champion Jamie Cooke, a former Balcarras School pupil, is based and the 28-year-old has already taken time out to help Freddie.

The county has a proud record in the sport and in addition to Cooke, Richard Phelps and Graham Brookhouse won Olympic team medals in the late 80s and Phelps also won the world title back in the day as well.

Getting to the very top is the dream for young Freddie who says that the shooting is probably his favourite discipline.

That’s not surprising because in Madeira he hit the target every time, 20 out of 20.

“I’m good at it and because it’s the first event I can get into the lead,” said Freddie, who was heading for a swimming session when he spoke to The Local Answer.

And while he’s happy to work hard, he’s ambitious too.

“I want to be the best in the world, just like Jamie Cooke,” Freddie said. “He’s a brilliant athlete and he’s very good at transition.”

Cooke won his world title in Mexico and Freddie has already competed in some pretty impressive places himself.

“Germany, Portugal twice and Ireland,” he said, before adding with a laugh, “and Solihull!”

He’s got a sense of humour too! No surprise there, anyone who knows Freddie knows what an extremely nice lad he is and he is certainly proving that nice guys can win!