Yusra Mardini was born on the 5th of March 1998 in Damascus, Syria. Her father Mr Ezzat Mardini was a swimming coach and Yusra along with her sister Sara grew up being trained for competitive swimming from an early age. However, she was forced to leave Syria when the civil war broke out and seek asylum in Germany. It was in Germany that Yusra got a chance to compete in the Olympics. She competed in the Rio 2016 Olympics as part of the groundbreaking IOC Refugee Olympic Team. That is how she came to be known as a refugee Swimmer.
What is the IOC Refugee Olympic Team?
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is a non-profit, independent international organization aimed at building a better world through sport.
The IOC created the team to provide displaced individuals with access to resources and support to compete at the highest level. The team will compete under the acronym EOR, representing Équipe Olympique des Réfugiés. That was the provision through which Yusra Mardini got the chance to participate in the Olympics.
What was Yusra Mardini’s early life like?
A normal childhood in Damascus in the early 1980s was a mix of tradition, community, and simple joys. The city, one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited places, had a rich cultural and historical backdrop.
Children grew up playing in the narrow alleyways of the Old City, surrounded by ancient architecture, bustling souks, and the scent of fresh bread from neighborhood bakeries.
Most kids attended local schools, where education was highly valued.
After school, they would gather in courtyards or on quiet streets to play football, marbles, or “Barjees” (a traditional board game).
Families were tightly knit, with large gatherings over home-cooked meals, featuring dishes like hummus, kibbeh, and shawarma.
Friday outings often included visits to parks, the Umayyad Mosque, or the famous Al-Hamidiyah Souq for sweets like baklava and booza (stretchy Arabic ice cream).
With limited television channels, entertainment was mostly social—storytelling from elders, radio shows, and the occasional cinema trip.
The 1980s were also a time of political tension in Syria, but for most children, life revolved around school, family, and playing until sunset, when mothers would call them home for dinner.
It was a childhood filled with simple pleasures, strong community bonds, and the charm of growing up in a historic, vibrant city.
Yusra’s family was different. Her father coached both Yusra and her sister in swimming. Both of them were national-level swimmers.
Quiet an unusual kind of upbringing. Considering a country with an Islam origin it was quiet an open-minded upbringing. The girls were fortunate to have such modern parents.
The crashing waves of the Mediterranean Sea, tried to swallow her hope with every swell.
The failed engine of the overcrowded dinghy left dozens distraught. Desperate souls adrift in the vast merciless sea. With a sole determination to overcome this distress. She plunged into the deep ferocious sea. The frigid water, the weight of exhaustion and destiny pressing against her limbs as she swam for hours dragging the boat with safe passengers toward the shore.
Defeat was never an option—only survival. She plunged headfirst into the impossible, fueled by sheer will and a silent, unspoken pact with fate. It wasn’t just a challenge but a battle between life and oblivion.
With every stroke, she defied death itself, knowing that if she lived to see the next sunrise, only then could she dare to whisper a greeting to the world.
It’s none other than Yusra Mardini. The woman who dared to bare it all to represent her country in the Olympics. This is a story of Yusra Mardini. The lady who is a Syrian refugee, an Olympic swimmer and a humanitarian. She won multiple hearts with her incredible journey of survival, resilience and triumph using her swimming skills to save lives and later competing on the global stage as part of the refugee olympic team. That is how she came to be known as the Refugee Swimmer.
JUST IMAGINE! Imagine training for years to compete in the Olympics. As if life wasn’t tough enoug,h you wake one only to find yourself swimming for your life instead—literally!
Yusra Mardini didn’t just dream of Olympic glory; she first had to conquer the open seas, pushing a sinking boat filled with refugees for hours. Talk about an extreme endurance workout! Most swimmers train in pools—Yusra’s warm-up was the Aegean Sea. If that’s not the ultimate test of perseverance, I don’t know what is!
Lets have a deep dive into her amazing journey.
Yusra Mardini was born in 1998 in Damascus, Syria, and from a young age, she had water in her veins—figuratively speaking! Growing up in a sporty family, with her father as her swim coach, she spent more time in the pool than on dry land. Even as a little girl, Yusra was a fierce competitor, always eager to race, splash, and outswim anyone who dared challenge her.
Her childhood was filled
with early morning training sessions, laughter, and the usual antics of a spirited young athlete. She wasn’t just talented—she was relentless. If someone told her she couldn’t do something, she would dive in and prove them wrong, quite literally. But alongside her competitive streak, Yusra had a playful and determined personality. She loved the water, but she also enjoyed spending time with her sisters and friends, living a normal childhood in Damascus.
However, as Syria’s civil war intensified, life took a dramatic turn. The same pools she once trained in were damaged by bombings, and the city she called home became increasingly unsafe. But even as a child, Yusra had already developed the resilience and determination that would later carry her through one of the most harrowing experiences of her life.
Before war shattered her homeland, she was a prodigy in the water—her strokes powerful, her dreams boundless. Training for the grandest stage in sports, she once swam with visions of gold. But fate had other plans. Forced to flee everything she knew, she became a refugee, an exile, a survivor. Yet, through it all, she never stopped swimming.
Against all odds, she rose. Not just as an athlete, but as a symbol of resilience, courage, and unbreakable spirit. The world would come to know her not just for her speed in the water, but for the fire within her—one that even the darkest storms could not extinguish.
