MALVERN Hills Sword Fencing star Amy Radford insists she is aiming for nothing but top spot at the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) Gatorade Nationals.

The 19-year-old is in confident mood ahead of the competition that starts today in Sheffield, having been selected for the European and World Junior Championships.

Radford has a good track record when it comes to the championships, winning epee silver at last year’s event. This time around the teenager is hoping to go one better, but is not getting carried away and is aware she must fend off stiff competition to come away with the gold medal.

“I’ll go into the championships knowing what to expect and confident I can win,” Radford said.

“I went there last year and won silver so this time around I’m hoping I can go one better and get that gold medal. I don’t want to be too confident and get carried away because you never know what is going to happen but if I perform well then there is no reason why I can’t win.

“Now my focus is obviously on the world and European championships but I’ll still be looking at BUCS as a place that I can go and pick up a win.

“BUCS is just before those two so I’m hoping to go there and do well and then move forward on a high.”

The Cardiff University student is in her last year as a junior and determined to end the year well before making the jump to senior level.

“I want to end this season with a bang and get as many victories as possible,” Radford added.

“Moving up to the seniors is going to be a whole new ball game.

“You go from being at the top of one age group to being right at the bottom of another.

“So I need to use competitions like BUCS and then the Europeans and worlds to get as much experience as I can because it will probably take about a year to get used to the jump in standard.”

Gatorade is the exclusive nutrition and hydration partner to BUCS and headline sponsor of the BUCS Gatorade Nationals.

BUCS and Gatorade work together to educate student athletes on the importance of sports nutrition and hydration – visit bucs.org.uk/gatorade.