With sports activities back in full swing, our students are challenging themselves, breaking personal bests, developing stronger bonds, and making all of us proud in the process. In the last couple of weeks, our WAB Tigers and TigerSharks embarked on exciting off-campus trips to Huizhou and Guangzhou in Guangdong, as well as to local competitions hosted at WAB and at other schools in Beijing.

They have been competing at ACAMIS competitions, Tri-Cities Tournaments, ISAC tournaments, and local friendlies, demonstrating commitment, resilience, and amazing team spirit. While not every competition resulted in a win for WAB, the experience brought students closer together and fired up a passion to pursue excellence in the sports they love. Everyone has made us incredibly proud this season. Keep scrolling down for a couple of highlights from these recent competitions.

Grade 8 TigerShark Swimmer Breaks Two ACAMIS records and 3 WAB Records!

Congratulations to Grade 8 student Alex L. for not only winning three individual gold medals and one bronze medal at ACAMIS Swimming competitions at ISB this March 17-18, but for also breaking two ACAMIS records and three WAB records!

“What made me most proud was that I lowered my times in my main events and went 53.73 in the 100m free, which will allow me to compete with the fastest in my age group! I am also extremely proud of our relay team as we managed to break two WAB records in both the 13-14 200m Medley and Freestyle relays!” Alex said of his participation.

The competition brought together 16 international schools from all over China. Alex competed in the 13-14-year-old category, taking home gold in the 50m freestyle, 100m butterfly, and 100m freestyle, together with a bronze in the 200m freestyle. He was also awarded the second-best male swimmer in the 13-14-year-old category due to the number of points he accumulated.

“WAB, as always, has been extremely supportive of my goals and involvement in swimming by providing the facilities to train in, as well as equipment and amazing coaches that push us as swimmers every step of the way. WAB has also taught me the importance of perseverance. Of never giving up, no matter how hard a situation may be, I know that when I overcome this challenge, I will be a better person and a better athlete. This, I have learned at WAB and will forever help me in all aspects of life, whether academic or sports related.” 

Alex is part of the WAB TigerSharks team led by coach Don Watson-Brown and has been fully dedicated to the sport for over three years. He trains seven times a week with TigerSharks and a swimming club outside of school.

Alex has now set his eyes on the Asian All-Stars competition in May where he hopes to break more records and in his own words: “with the help of my teammates, make TigerSharks the best swim team in Asia!”.

Watch out, everyone!

Junior TigerSharks Rank Third out of 23 Schools at ACAMIS!

In the Under 12s ACAMIS Junior Swimming Championship at SWIS in Shenzhen, 23 TigerSharks from WAB competed. And while none of them won Gold, each one broke a personal best record and elevated the team to third place out of 23 schools from across China.

For coach Don Watson-Brown, this was an exceptional result:

“This year’s result of 3rd place was exceptional. I do not gauge success just in “winning” – it is much more than that! But our WAB team created a “first” for me in my nearly 30 years as a professional swim coach! Our team of 23 swimmers did not “win” a single gold medal over the two days! Not one! So how did we manage to come third out of 23 schools across China/Mongolia members?

We did it with teamwork! We did it by keeping to our goal of “having fun, racing hard, and being good sports!” That’s how! Our consistency, attitude, respect for other competitors and officials, behavior, and effort is why we finished with a great result! Well done as that makes me very very proud!”

In a passionate WeChat message to the swimmers, parents, coaches, admin, and supporters, Don stressed the importance of the learning opportunities that these championships provide and how these exchanges are a vital part of our students’ holistic development.

“The life experience and lessons that every one of our swimmers has gained this weekend are important “building blocks” in our students’ future growth and development at WAB – and beyond!” he said.

Congratulations to our TigerSharks ACAMIS team of 2023!

Tri-Cities 2023 Badminton and Soccer Tournaments

Our boys and girls Badminton and Soccer varsity teams competed at the Tri-Cities 2023 Championships, which were hosted by the American International School of Guangzhou (AISG) this year. The two-day tournament was a great way to bring together students from AISG, Shanghai American School Pudong (SASPD), Utahloy International School Guangzhou (UISG), and of course WAB. Over the two days, students competed in friendly competitions and were also given plenty of opportunities to socialize such as through team dinners, a barbecue, and a bonfire.

Our badminton teams took home gold in the mixed-double Badminton game and gold in the girls' double Badminton. In addition, our varsity boys' soccer team also came first place in their competition.

But winner or not, all students who took part in the Tri-Cities Tournaments this year showed excellent sportsmanship, team spirit, and respect for our host. You’ve made us all proud!

Thank you to everyone who has come along to support our students during these busy couple of weeks. Many more sports competitions are coming up and families are now welcome to come to campuses to cheer on their children. Please check out the WABX calendar for upcoming events.