Hundreds of young athletes will compete in the British Schools Modern Biathlon Championships, which take place at the Crystal Palace National Sports Centre on Sunday (21 March).

Some 650 young people from around the country will contest the championship finals, where they will face the challenge of a swim and a run.

Some 4500 young athletes took part in the 12 regional qualifying events held at Aldershot, Barnet, Bath, Crawley, Hexham, Leeds, Liverpool, Medway, Millfield, Peterborough, Solihull and Swansea.

The British Schools Modern Biathlon Championships is supported by Sport England and run by Pentathlon GB, the national governing body for modern pentathlon.

Biathlons are one of the traditional ways that young people try out multi-sports events in an enjoyable, safe and competitive environment.

After mastering swimming and running, they can gradually add the other disciplines of the modern pentathlon - fencing, shooting and show jumping – before tackling a full modern pentathlon.

“The British Schools Modern Biathlon Championships are one of the traditional ways that we encourage young athletes to try multi-sports events,” said Peter Hart, Chief Executive of Pentathlon GB.

“Great Britain has an outstanding track record on the international stage in modern pentathlon and who knows, some future British Olympic pentathletes may compete at Crystal Palace on Sunday.”

Some 50 athletes of each gender will contest the year 5, year 6, year 7, year 8 and year 9 competitions on Sunday, with 40 competing in the year 10, year 11 and year 12/13 competitions. There are also team events for each year group and a competition for teachers.

Among the schools to secure the most qualifiers for the championships finals in Crystal Palace are Downsend School in Leatherhead, Surrey, with 22 qualifiers, Guildford High School with 21 and the City of London Freemen’s School with 16. There are also 15 competitors from Kelly College in Tavistock, Devon, whose alumni include Heather Fell, silver medallist at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

The events consist of a 50m swim and 500m run for years 5 to 7 and for teachers, and a 100m swim and 1000m run for years 8 to 12/13.

A full modern pentathlon now consists of fencing, swimming, show jumping and a combined run/shoot.

The British Schools Modern Biathlon Championships take place on Sunday 21 March, with the action running getting underway at about 9am and concluding at 2pm. Admission is free.