FENCING is a real sisters’ act in the Williamson household and it is a sibling rivalry that has seen both girls crowned national champions.

Lexie, aged nine, has followed in the footsteps of big sister, 11-year-old Lucy-Belle, to win the prestigious National Leon Paul Junior Series - and both are hoping to spur each other on to more glory.

The sisters underlined their fencing talents at the recent Yorkshire Youth Champion, where they both won gold medals in their respective age categories.

The success comes hot on the heels of the pair winning the year-long Leon Paul Fencing Tournament where both girls won medals at events held in London, Edinburgh, Durham, Nottingham, Cardiff and Wrexham, Dad Ian, who also coaches them at Skipton Fencing Club, believes Lexie, who is in her third year of competing, is now ready to step out of Lucy-Belle’s shadow, and that can only be good news for both girls.

“Lexie has always fenced in Lucy-Belle’s shadow and has watched her older sister achieve amazing success over the past three years.,” said Ian. “In many ways, Lexie has had to battle with her opponents and her sister’s reputation but, in this last season, Lexie shrugged off the feeling of being less able and trained with a passion to achieve results that are on par with Lucy-Belle’s two years ago. “The whole family is incredibly proud of Lexie, she has certainly surprised us and we are quite excited to see what she does next.”

Lucy Belle, who won the Lancashire Telegraph’s Grassroots Heroes Awards Young Sports Personality of the year award in 2013, is delighted to see her younger sister doing so well.

And having been a national, regional and local champion in recent years - she is the current British Youth champion in Epee, Sabre and silver medallist in Foil - Lucy-Belle has plenty to offer to her younger sister both in terms of competition experience and tactical advice.

“Lexie didn’t use to take fencing seriously but now, she has really changed,” said Lucy-Belle who, like her younger sister attends St Michael and All Angels Primary School in Foulridge.

“It is amazing to see how well she is doing and I really enjoy training with her - most of the time. “In some competitions she has done better than I did two years ago and that is quite scary. In a couple of years, we may be fencing each other and that’s going to be very interesting.”

Fencing can be a very demanding sport - with fencers travelling around the country to compete - and while an individual fight is over in minutes, the demands placed on the fencer during that time are enormous. And the level of concentration, strength, agility and speed required as well as tactical and technical ability mean that being ready to fence at a few minutes’ notice for an entire day is demanding and difficult for young athletes.

However, Ian said both girls are helping each other in their quest for glory.

“While the girls are in different age categories they have now found that they are able to support, encourage and motivate each other to maintain a level of readiness that is difficult alone,” he said.

“They warm up, practice and advise each other as well as console and congratulate depending on the outcome of the fights.”

Mum and dad, Jane and Ian, are now counting down the days when both girls are competing against each other - and they believes it will come sooner than they think.

“I expect that day will come and probably sooner that the girls realise,” added Ian.

“In fact, this year’s English Youth Championships will see them in the same category and Lucy-Belle has her sights set on medals again. “The better both girls do, the more likely they will face each other and I guess I will just have to wish them both well, stand back and watch as the fight unfolds.”