AUC Swimming and Tennis Teams Win Gold Medals in World InterUniversities Championships

The swimming and tennis teams of The American University in Cairo (AUC) won first place in the individual team rankings at the Third Annual InterUniversities Championships recently held in Barcelona, Spain. Out of more than 65 universities, AUC came in second place in the overall ranking following the Sorbonne University. AUC’s table tennis team came in second place, while men’s soccer team came in third after a very hard-fought competition and women’s rugby came in fourth place.   AUC’s 118-member delegation, including coaches and staff members, was the only team of representatives from Egypt. “As this is the first time for AUC to participate in this tournament, we are quite thrilled to have achieved such an outstanding result. We are not just proud to represent Egypt as the only Egyptian university in the tournament, but we are also proud that AUC is the only Middle Eastern university to be placed in the top five overall team rankings. This demonstrates the depth of our intercollegiate athletics program and how AUC can compete at a top international university level, and achieve outstanding results,” said Louise Bertini, director of AUC Athletics. This is the third iteration of the InterUniversities Sport Committee’s athletic tournament, in which around 2,500 student athletes from 28 countries representing more than 70 universities competed for cash prizes. This year’s championship featured a range of sports from fustal to rugby to chess. AUC competed in every event except handball, men’s volleyball, chess and women’s basketball. Most of the teams practiced daily in preparation for the championship, Bertini said, “Of course, it’s not just about sports and competition. One of the nice things about AUC is that it gives athletes a chance to compete at the international level … this is also about making friends and experiencing other cultures.” Bertini said “we look forward to improve this year’s results and to hopefully win the overall tournament next year.”