Olympian Cook serves up a treat at school’s awards
OLYMPIC swimmer Chris Cook delivered words of inspiration to sporting youngsters at Dame Allan’s Schools.
Cook, who won double gold in the 2006 Commonwealth Games and also represented Great Britain in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics, was invited to hand out the trophies at the schools’ sports awards evening at Newcastle Falcons’ Kingston Park stadium.
He described how an ‘average guy achieved success on a world stage’ and how pupils in the region could go on to replicate his success if they were prepared to put in the hard work.
Cook handed out numerous trophies during the evening as pupils from the schools were recognised for their excellent sporting achievements during the past year.
As well as individual trophies in a variety of sports, there were awards for leadership, commitment and excellence.
The main prizes were the Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Schools.
Year eight pupil Ben Riley was named the top sportsman for his all-round talent across a number of sports.
Year 12 pupil Lowri Waugh took home the sportswoman trophy for her achievements in squash.
Director of Sport at Dame Allan’s Caroline McBain said: “There are so many talented pupils at Dame Allan’s and it is important their excellent achievements and hard work are recognised.
“It was a truly inspirational evening and it was a great chance to reflect on all the success of our pupils.
“It was incredibly hard to pick winners in all the categories.
“Having somebody like Chris Cook, who had to work extremely hard to get to where he did, was a reminder to our students they too can go all the way if they apply themselves and work at it.”