ABU DHABI // Lifeguards competing in the national championships found themselves in the unusual position of being rescued from rough seas off Saadiyat Island on Sunday.
Competitors battled cramps, vomiting and exhaustion as 15-knot winds whipped up 2-metre waves and strong currents at the 9th National Lifeguard Championship.
Kim Rojas, who works at Dubai Ladies’ Club, had to be rescued in the first event, a 200-metre swim out to a buoy and back.
“As soon as I jumped into the first wave I swallowed a lot of water, hit my leg on a stone and cramped up,” the Filipina said. “I’d tell anyone without experience, don’t go into the water when conditions are like this.”
Stewart Hodsol, one of the event’s founding organisers, said: “Some of these guys are mainly swimming pool and water park lifeguards who don’t have open-ocean experience.
“But that’s what it’s all about – giving them training.”
Some events were cancelled because of the conditions.
More than 150 men and women made up 28 competing teams.
Mr Hodsol said the event had never experienced conditions as rough as Sunday’s. He said the public had to be aware of the conditions before entering the water.
“You can see when lifeguards, good swimmers, are struggling with these conditions people have to take a look at the situation before they venture into the sea themselves,” he said.
Others believed the championship should have been postponed.
“If it was up to me I would have cancelled today’s water events,” said Yousif Ismail, coach of the Dubai Municipality team, the only government team in the competition.
“Even lifeguards had to be saved today. For us it’s always safety first.”
Mr Ismail said he knew his lifeguards were fit and well trained.
“We are advanced in lifesaving because we have to cover more areas and have more of the public to look after,” he said. “My lifeguards could be responsible for over 3,000 during the weekend.”
The Dubai Municipality team this year staged a return to the competition. They last competed in 2008, when they won the championship.
Rob Klok, also a founding member of the event and this year’s head referee, wanted to reinforce Mr Hodsol’s message.
“If you’re unsure don’t enter the water, ask a lifeguard first, swim in front of where the lifeguards are and if you’re in the water please listen to the lifeguards,” said Mr Klok, who has been a lifeguard for 25 years and works at Wild Wadi Water Park in Jumeirah.
The events included a 1-kilometre beach run, a 400-metre swim followed by a 150-metre run, a 90-metre beach sprint relay and a 400m swim relay.
Mr Klok said the championship had come a long way.
“There are no more weak teams and we now have four female teams, which shows women’s increased involvement in lifeguarding in the UAE,” he said.
One of the female competitors was Yas Waterworld’s Beth Smith, 24, from the UK.
Although men are traditionally stronger than women in sports the 6-year lifeguard sees no reason why women should not have just as big a part to play in a competition such as this one.
“It’s less about how strong a swimmer you are and more about swimming in the right direction and knowing the tides and the beach,” said Ms Smith.
The team from Le Meridien Al Aqah, Fujairah, the resort which held the first event nine years ago, were crowned this year’s champions.
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Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
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Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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