Dubai: Syrian swimmer Yusra Mardini wants to change the perception of refugees with her continued participation in the pool.
The 20-year-old from Damascus fled the Syrian civil war by boat with 18 others in 2015 but when the motor stopped working in the Aegean Sea between Turkey and Greece, she and her sister plus two others got out and pushed the dingy - which was only designed for six people and taking on water - for three hours until they reached Lesbos.
From there, Mardini and her family traveled across Europe to Berlin, Germany, where they now reside.
She still has family in Syria but her home was destroyed.
That story earned the already accomplished Syrian national team swimmer, who had represented her country at the 2012 Fina World Championships in Turkey, a call-up to the Rio 2016 Refugee Olympic Team, where she finished 45th out of 46 swimmers in the 100-metre freestyle in 1:04.66, and 41st out of 45 in the 100-metre butterfly in 1:09.21.
She now wants to get back to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to keep the plight of refugees on the agenda.
“I want to spread a message to a lot of people not only refugees that we can do a lot in this world, you just have to believe in yourself and put everything into it. Sometimes you have to risk everything to get where you are or where you want to be,” she told Gulf News, in an interview set-up by Under Armour, who incorporated her story into their ‘Will Finds A Way’ campaign that launched on Thursday.
“I want to change people’s perceptions of what a refugee is, because a lot of people think refugees are just people that don’t have money, are uneducated, and are coming to a place that is so fancy for them.
“I just want to tell the world that no actually, we have money, we are educated and in Syria we were also doctors and engineers. Some people make refugees feel like they are much less than normal, but they are normal people who left their country because of violence, and who risked everything just to find peace and get a better chance in life.
“I’ve no idea what will happen in the future,” added Mardini, who is also an ambassador for the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHCR). “But I want to keep doing stuff for refugees and I’m going to keep swimming. If I am not swimming, I’m going to do something within swimming, I’m sure of that.”
Given her ordeal, you would have thought she would want to do anything but swim, and she admits she still has flashbacks.
“I can swim in a pool but I can’t swim in the sea until now, I just can’t. Every time I go to the sea, I remember all the people who died there, so it’s a really sad moment for me. I love the sea, but I also have a lot of fear from it.
“It’s still kind of blurry,” she recalls of her crossing. “I can just remember me smiling for the kid because I didn’t want him to feel that we were dying. I felt like my life was flashing in front of my eyes.”
That said, she vows to continue.
“Swimming has been a huge part of my life because it saved my life on that trip, and then when I came to Germany it built up my community again and I got to meet a lot of people because of that.
“It gave me discipline in my life and without it I would not have been here, I’ve been swimming since I was three-years-old and I don’t know any life without it, I hope I don’t get old soon and have to leave it.
“To be part of the first ever Refugee Olympic Team was a great experience and I couldn’t have been any prouder and happier about that.”
Does she hope to return to her country and represent Syria at the next Olympics?
“To be honest that’s a really complicated matter, obviously I’d love to go back to my country in peace again and I’d love to represent my country, but also Germany because it has become my second home.
“I’d also love to be part of the Refugee Olympic Team again if there is one, so if there is a flag for all of those things I would do it. The next few years hold a lot of surprises and I’m really excited for that.”
Yusra Mardini factfile
Born March 5, 1998
Damascus, Syria
Height 1.65m
Weight 53kg
