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A year ago, 18-year-old Yusra Mardini helped save a boat full of refugees. Saturday, she placed first in her heat at the Olympic games.
And if she already sounds like the fictional heroine of some fantastical novel well, wait until you hear the rest of her story.
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Last year, Mardini, her sister and two other people, were among about two dozen refugees fleeing Syria's disastrous civil war by boat. They had made it safely to Turkey but as they left that country's shore, the boat's motor, which was only meant for six people, began to stall. Most people on board could not swim, so Mardini and the others jumped into the cold Aegan sea and swam for three consecutive hours to keep their boat from capsizing.
The refugee Olympic team was met with roaring applause. | Photo: AFP
“We were the only four who knew how to swim,” she said of the experience, as reported by The Independent. “I had one hand with the rope attached to the boat as I moved my two legs and one arm. It was three and half hours in cold water. Your body is almost like … done. I don’t know if I can describe that.”
Mardini was already a talented swimmer in Damascus, and was professionally supported by the Syrian Olympic Committee. But as the conflict escalated, things became unbearable at home.
“Sometimes we couldn’t train because of the war,” she said. “And sometimes you would be swimming in pools where the roofs were [blown open] in three or four places.”
After reaching Lesbos, Mardini and her sister travelled through Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary and Austria before arriving at their final destination of Berlin, Germany. There she was put in touch with the Wasserfreunde Spandau 04 swimming club, where her coach, Sven Spannekrebs, saw her potential and was preparing her to enter the 2020 Olympics.
As it turned out, however, her chance came sooner than that.
Though Mardini placed first in her heat in the 100-meter butterfly swim Saturday, her time wasn’t fast enough to advance her to the semifinals. But she’ll have another shot Wednesday, when she competes in the 100-meter women’s freestyle.
She hopes one day to return to Syria in a time of peace and share her experience.
“Maybe I will build my life here in Germany, and when I am an old lady I will go back to Syria and teach people about my experience,” she said, as reported by Buzzfeed.
Members of the Olympic refugee team including Yusra Mardini (bottom row, center) from Syria pose in front of Christ the Redeemer. | Photo: Reuters
The first-ever Olympics team composed entirely of refugees includes men and women from Syria, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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