Recently, Yew Chung International School of Beijing student athletes were invited to the Asian All-Stars Swim Meet hosted by the International School of Beijing (ISB) in Shunyi. Ten of our best swimmers took part in this multi-day event that ran from Saturday, February 23 to Sunday, February 24 and saw around 600 student athletes compete. Our Scorpions were up against students from all across Asia with competitors from Korea, Thailand and beyond in attendance.

The entire team looked quite smart in their new YCIS Beijing swim team uniforms and enjoyed the opportunity to represent our school. The ten proud Scorpions that competed were:

1. Kyle Liu, Year 7
2. Ryan Peng, Year 4
3. Summer Jane Wu, Year 4
4. Jenny Wu Ziyue, Year 4
5. Isabelle Zheng, Year 4
6. Spark Hu, Year 7
7. Chan Sum Hok, Year 5
8. Bowen Zhong, Year 3
9. Andrew Gong Zhengang, Year 5
10. Jack Kam Check, Year 4

Despite none of our Scorpions medalling at this meet, they put in a good effort. We had 10 heat winners, one 5th and one 6th in the all-star level. Our students who took firsts included: Spark Hu, who finished 1st in two events, Ryan Peng who got a 1st in one, Summer Wu had a 1st in three, Chan Sum Hok gained a 1st in one, Jenny Wu had a 1st in one, Bowen Zhong clenched a 1st in one and Andrew Gong seized a 1st in one event as well. In addition, Summer Wu obtained a 5th in the 50m butterfly and a 6th in the 100m freestyle.

The YCIS Beijing Scorpions Swim Team and their coaches, Matthew McEwan and Kate Woods, are eagerly looking forward to the team’s future. Matt has been working hard to develop the YCIS swim programme and Kate has been using her extensive swim background and expertise to guide the team and build their skills. With a notable swimming programme background that’s included not only running the Tavistock Swim Team in Devon, UK for several years, but also coaching for the Leander Swim Programme, one of the UK's leading competitive clubs known for its champion making coaches, its clear our Scorpions are in good hands.

YCIS Beijing’s next competitive swim meet will be held at 8 p.m. on Saturday, 20 April at the Dragon Bay Villas in Shunyi and will be hosted by the International Montessori School of Beijing (MSB). We hope to see our YCIS Beijing Scorpions fans in attendance to cheer on our student athletes!