Dubai College and The British School Al Khubairat (BSAK) made the UAE proud as the two schools beat strong international competition to be crowned joint-champions at the COBIS Secondary Games in England.
23 schools from across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East travelled to Sheffield for the annual competition where they tested themselves against their peers in swimming, athletics and football.
BSAK, as two-time defending champions, were the team to beat but they lived up to their expectations by claiming a hat-trick and sharing the top position with their UAE neighbours Dubai College, who claimed their best result in the competition with 660 points. St Catherine’s School of Athens joined them on the podium after finishing third with 570 points.
For three-time champions BSAK, they made a big splash in the pool with a number of medals across different disciplines. Among those were Lily MacDonald, who finished first in the girls’ 50m backstroke, while Omar Azlan was quickest in the boys’ category. Their girls’ 200m medley relay side added to the tally in a UAE 1-2-3 as Dubai College’s B and A sides finished second and third respectively.
⭐⭐🌟OVERALL RESULTS!🌟⭐
— COBIS (@COBISorg) May 20, 2018
JOINT 1st 🥇 @DCol_Sport A
JOINT 1st 🥇 @BSAKsports
3rd 🥉St Catherine's Athens
The COBIS Championship🏆 is going back to #UAE to be shared by two amazing schools in Dubai and Abu Dhabi! #COBISGamesUK pic.twitter.com/7NW6zzCyV3
Dubai College A continued to be a threat and were rewarded for their efforts by claiming gold in the girls’ 200m freestyle final to finish runners-up.
But, 24 hours later, Dubai College ‘A’ went one better as they excelled in track and field to win the athletics competition. Among the winners were Harriet Davies (1,500m), Lia Warren (long jump), Ali Madhi Mahdji (shot put) and Anna Johnstone (800m). For BSAK, Neve Woodward took to the track by storm, winning three individual medals.
Going into the third and final, it was still all to play for in the football competition. While BSAK were crowned champions, Dubai College’s third place finish was enough to claim joint-top position.
For Mike McFarlane, head coach of BSAK, he had nothing but praise for the individuals. He said: “I am so proud of the performances the whole squad put in across all three sports, consistently breaking personal bests. To witness their resilience, grit and determination as well as the teamwork and collaboration as a squad was incredible and was the key foundation for their success over the weekend.
“It’s a fantastic showcase of the talent and opportunities available in the UAE, with Dubai College’s two teams, and BSAK, pushing each other the whole way to eventually sharing the honours.”
Lydia Clohesy, head of PE at Dubai College, added: “The Dubai College teams represented extremely well in Sheffield. Their commitment to training in preparation for the Games has certainly paid off. It was wonderful to see so many of our students achieving outstanding results, while supporting and cheering for other students beyond their own team-mates.”
