July 15, 2024 • 25 mins
Swimmer Yusra Mardini grew up in Syria and dreamed of one day representing her home country at the Olympics. But when the civil war in Syria intensified, she fled the country and had to put that dream on hold. After escaping to Europe, she faced an unexpected opportunity. Yusra tells Maya the harrowing story of how she made it to safety, and then to the Olympic stage.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hushkin, you do hear the bombings all the time when
you're living in the war zone.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So me and my.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Older sister were like, we need to go because it's
only getting worse. We knew that we're not safe. We
knew that every day you get out of the apartment
is a risk and you might never see your family again.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
When Olympic swimmer You Sir Mardini was just a teenager,
she and her sister fled their homeland of Syria. They
went on a dangerous journey across Europe before finally seeking
asylum in Germany.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
I was in a refugee camp when I arrived for
a few months, and me and my sister and everyone
else got to Germany. We had so much paperwork to do.
We sometimes would wait in line from twelve am until
eight am the next day to have just a number.
That's how crazy it was at that point, and for me,
(01:18):
my escape was sports.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
On today's episode, a Syrian refugee fights for her dreams.
I'm maya Shunker and this is a slight change of plans,
a show about who we are and who we become
in the face of a big change. As a teenager
(01:51):
used her care at about two things, hanging out with
her friends and swim practice. She was a star on
the Syrian national swim team and had big dreams of
one day representing her country at the Olympics. But as
the Syrian Civil War intensified, even everyday activities like walking
to school or a friend's house became dangerous.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
I remember one time I was thirteen years old. I
was walking to see my friends and there was like
a bomb attack, literally like two hundred meters behind me.
I look back, I go to the pharmacy. I stand
there for a few minutes and I continue afterwards. That's
how normal it became. And I wouldn't tell my mom
(02:35):
because then I cannot go out. I had a friend
where she did lose her life while being in her bedroom.
I heard so many stories about people being in their
houses and then missile attacks or bomb attacks, and it
was like, I am risking my life being home or outside.
(02:55):
So I would rather, you know, try to rebel in
my own way, to be like you know what we
need to like try and have a normal life.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Yeah, you've mentioned such dangerous circumstances, and I know that
this danger followed you to the pool. You're one place
of refuge. So do you mind describing what that was like.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
So the pool is a fifty meter pool and the
building is mostly glass. Sometimes I'd be swimming like backstroke
and I'll see holes in the roof because of the missiles.
I remember that day we were practicing, just like any
other day. You heard something like a really loud knock,
but you didn't know what was going on. It took
(03:40):
us a moment to realize that it was literally a
missile in the water. It did not explode, so the
coach was shouting at everyone to go hide. Everyone started running.
Everyone's like trying to get out of the pool to
go and hide. Me and my older sister were like
waiting for my mom to pick us up. I got
my mom just shaking and just crying. I couldn't speak,
(04:04):
and then my mom was just like shouting trying to
make sure that we are okay, and I couldn't respond.
So I got in the car. I couldn't respond, and
I think it was me being in shock. I was terrified,
but I was also used to it, which is really sad.
I was sixteen years old and this was normal for me.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
What solace, if any did you find in the act
of swimming, Like, did that help bring structure focus to
your life during this time? Oh?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, I did not want to let it go.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
For me, it was about proving that I am talented
enough that I you know, I'm always going to be
the fastest. If I want something in life, I work very,
very hard to get it. My mom would shout at
me because I would come back home so tired. I'll
sleep with my backpack, That's how tired I was.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
When did you and your sister I first realize that
you might want to try and leave Syria, Because I mean,
obviously what you've described us is so unimaginably harrowing, but
it's still so challenging to imagine leaving everyone and everything
you know and love behind. I mean, it's just hard
to understate the pull of home.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah, me and my older sister were like, we need
to go because it's only getting worse. We knew that
we're not safe, we knew that every day you get
out of the apartment is a risk and you might
never see your family again.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
So the first conversation.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
That we had was with my dad. We were like,
we need to go to Germany. They were just welcoming refugees,
and he said no. My mom said no. For my parents,
the conversation was not even on the table. For us
to leave two girls living alone, that's insane. And my
dad was like, find me someone I could trust. And
(06:00):
then our cousin came by and he was going with
his uncle. So then we opened the conversation with my
family again. And then it took ten days for us
to leave. My mom was crying every day for ten
days straight. They booked the flights from Libanon to Turkey.
We got to the airport and I remember we got
(06:23):
on the plane and the flight attendant was like, please
do not steal the life jackets.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Wow. Yeah, they said that on the plane.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Because they knew so many people were headed down the
same yeah, towards the same machine.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
They knew.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Yeah, they knew there were thousands of people trying to
escape Syria.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Were you scared, you, Sarah? You say everything is so
matter of factly, and so I'm just so curious, like,
and you're seventeen years old at this time, right, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
I think this part I'm thankful for my parents for
because they raised us to be ready for everything, and
every time I doubted anything I was like, my sister's here.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
She's here.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
I used to like beg her for like sleepover in
her bed, even though like we're in the same room.
So she gives me sort of some type of peace,
even though we're very different. Me and my sister were
very different, but whenever she's there, she was like a
parent for me too, how much older three years So
(07:35):
I was like, Okay, my sister's here, and for me,
I knew that this was my last chance to survive
and try to survive and fight for everything. It's the
human instinct in the end. Absolutely, it's just I want
to live.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
You say, there's so many parts of your harrowing journey.
It took twenty five days, but I want to focus
in on one part of the journey, which is when
you found a smuggler to help you take a small
boat across the sea in order to get to Greece.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Yeah, we found these smugglers and yeah they were like, okay,
you have to pay thy five hundred euros for each
person for the sea journey, and you're gonna come tomorrow
to this place again at five pm. It was to
take us to the island, one of the closest islands
in Turkey to Greece. So we all pack this one
(08:38):
pack pack that we had from Syria. We didn't have
anything else. Anyway, you sit in the bus, you close
the curtain. That was four hours. So when we got there,
we waited for four days to be able to get
on the boat. No water, no connection, no food, You
are not allowed to talk to anyone.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
So what was it like finally getting into this little
I mean when I say boat, I mean literally like
it's a small rapper boat.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Yeah, it's very inhumane.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
So the dinghy like fits usually like if you want
to be comfortable for like five six people, and we
were twenty people and one child that was six years old.
So the smugglers take people, let them on the boat,
they start the motor for you, and they let you go.
Whatever happens afterwards, that's it. So usually the trip does
(09:33):
not take more than like forty five minutes because obviously
the islands are so close. So we got on the
boat and then the motor stops after like fifteen minutes.
The whole journey, the motor keeps working and stopping the
whole time. It's an experience where I'm a swimmer and
I was terrified of the water. All of us on
(09:56):
the boat, we were praying in one voice as they'll
remember that. Some people were taking the water out of
the boat. Some people were like trying to steer it.
Someone was calling the coastguards saying please save us, and
they were like turn and go back. So that was
a moment for me where I was like, there is
(10:17):
no humanity. So the first thing that we did is
throw everything we had, all the belongings. There was a
friend of my dad that was also with us, so
he stands up, he jumps in the water to stabilize
the boat to try and save everyone. And then the
next person to stand up and jump in the water
was my sister, and then I stood up. I went
(10:39):
from the other side, and she was furious and I
was like, I'm a swimmer too. There was a rope
around the dinghy, so me and my sister we tried
to grab one rope and then tried to swim. It
took us three hours and a half to get to
that shore. It was really cold, but we couldn't just
let go and leave.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
You had confidence that you and your older sister would
survive this because you're swimmers. But what was painful for
you is the idea that maybe everyone else might not.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Me and my sister, we could have swum it. We
swum open water before ninety percent of the people on
the boat did not know how to swim. I also
remember doing like smiley faces for the kid, like staying
my tongue out because I didn't want him to feel
like we were drowning.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
What was it like on an emotional level to share
in an experience like this with a group of strangers,
I mean, people you didn't even know days prior.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Even though the strip was horrible in every aspect, the
inhumane way we were treated, I think we were very,
very lucky to have those people on the boat because
we all worked together to save each other's lives. You
can make it in life on your own, but it's
not as beautiful as when everyone makes it.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
We'll be back in a moment with a slight change
of plans. Everyone in Eusra's boat made it safely across
the sea to Greece. After they arrived, User and her
(12:24):
sister continued their journey, mostly by foot, through four more
countries before finally reaching Berlin. They were accepted into refugee housing,
where they found safety but little privacy. Eustra spent her
days filling out mountains of paperwork to seek asylum. She
missed her family in swim practice and the warm weather
(12:45):
back home.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
The moment I got to Germany, it was gray and cold,
and I did not like it at all. I was saying,
I'm going to go back home soon. This is temporary.
I didn't want to give up on going back to
my country. I was, of course thankful to be in
a country where they took us in as refugees, but
it is not that simple or easy. I know refugees
(13:10):
that do not feel like they fit in until today
and it's eight years since they left Syria.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
It's not that they're.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Not trying, but the trauma and to process everything they
went through is not easy. Not everyone's welcoming. Me and
my sister were very, very lucky to meet incredible people
that wanted to help. But not everyone meets people that
want to help and want to make them feel at home.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
So I was in a refugee camp when I arrived
for a few months, and me and my sister and
everyone else that got to Germany, we had so much
paperwork to do. We sometimes would wait in line from
twelve am until eight am the next day to have
just a number. That's how crazy it was at that point.
(13:58):
And for me, my escape was sports. I think after
three months of getting to Germany, we made an appointment
with a swimming club and the coach goes, okay, can
you go change and jump in the pool. I want
to see your skills. We go, there's one problem, we
don't have swimming suits. Can you give us swimming suit? Right?
(14:19):
So he goes and grabs swimming suits and we swim.
I think, yeah, he was really surprised by the skills
and level of US swimming.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
And after that, yeah, I went back to practice.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Wow. Wow, Yeah, you go back to practice and you're
in the pool again. So yeah, walk me through what
that evolution was like.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
So I met Sven, which was my coach at the time.
I sat down with him and he said, what are
your goals? And I said, I want to go to
the Olympics. And it was twenty fifteen, so my goal
and his goal was that I participate at the Tokyo
Olympics twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Then there was an announcement.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
That the creation of the first ever refugee Olympic team
will happen in Rio twenty sixteen that I did not
consider going as a refugee. At that point, I did
not want to. I was struggling because where I come from,
a refugee wasn't something great like being like, oh, yeah,
(15:28):
I'm a refugee I left, I'll be like, no, I'm Syrian.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
I want to earn my spot.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
I want to prove that I belong at the Olympics,
that I did everything I could in my life for
the sport. When I did not want to go to
the Olympics as a refugee, my mom was like, if
you don't remember how hard you worked, remember the hours
I was waiting for you and driving you to practice
(15:53):
and drying your hair, making your sandwiches.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
I love how they said, like, if you don't remember
how hard you were, remember how hard we worked.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Oh. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
And then my dad, I remember him coaching me all
the time. Yeah, my sister being my biggest supporter and competitor.
At the same time, they all told me sometimes there
are opportunities in life that you will never have again,
and we know how hard you worked and how much
you deserve that you should go. I went back to
(16:24):
swim and I told him I want to go to
the Olympics. But I was still not okay, like not
one hundred percent sure about what is this refugee Olympic team.
It's going to happen for the first time in history?
Will people be okay with it? Will people will? Will
they welcome it? There's another announcement a few months later
(16:45):
that three athletes made it on the team basically, and
one of them is a Syrian swimmer that's based in Germany,
and the media goes crazy. We got three hundred plus
emails that day. The story goes viral and everyone's like, oh,
(17:06):
from refugee to an Olympian. The face of the refuge
Olympic team. She speaks amazing English. I was like, oh, God, like,
come on, yeah, a lot of Syrians speak at English.
You know. I won my heat when I swam, so
that was also really insane. I met the athletes on
(17:27):
the refuge Olympic team, so many people that showed me
so much love that I was not expecting in my life.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
But the moment that everything changed.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
For me about who I am, about what a refugee
is is the moment I stepped foot in the Olympic stadium.
In the opening ceremony, I realized that every person in
that stadium stood up for the team. I met the team,
and I realized that this team is just about to
(17:58):
give the world a very strong message. We do not
come from the same countries, yet we are forming this
team that sends a message of hope to the world.
It was an incredible time for me and that's where
everything started.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Yeah, your experience in the twenty sixteen Olympics changed you
so much that you opted to be part of the
Olympic refugee team in twenty twenty. Right, that was a
proactive choice. Tell me a bit more about that.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Yes, I decided to go to Tokyo again and I
was working really hard to be there, and the Syrian
team reached out and told me you qualified for us
and you can go with Syria, and I respected that
and that was very a happy moment for me because
it was something that I wanted to know that I've
(18:50):
done in life. But I chose to compete for the
refugee Olympic team because of what I am trying to
do in life right now, which is change the people's
perspective and ideas about refugees and what can we do
and what can we not? So yeah, I competed again
for the Refugee Olympic team. I loved every moment of it.
(19:13):
To be honest, I would not change anything about both experiences, Like, yeah,
the dream.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
Wow, that's amazing. You Srah, can you tell me to
bring me after speed on present day? I mean, you
since retired from swimming, you built this foundation. Tell me
a bit more about the foundation and what your goals
are for how you spend the rest of your life.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
I decided that it was time to move on from
swimming and it's time for studying. I study film and
TV production because I'm a storyteller and I want to
be able to tell other people's stories, not just mine.
I know that the events that happen in my life
are so insane, but I am so thankful because now
(19:56):
I get to say I know that I can help people,
and I know that I can tell people that they
can help others and that coexistence is really beautiful. Last year,
in June, I decided to launch my own foundation, and
it is a nonprofit foundation that is focusing on helping
(20:19):
refugees through education in sports. Because I felt like my
education and access to sport helped me become who I
am today. For me, sports was my home for the
longest time and it will always be and it helped
me with my mental health and struggling a lot in life.
So I want to give that opportunity to refugees that
(20:41):
are still in camps, that are still trying to figure
out what are they going to do in their lives.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
And then tell me about your family. Estra, your parents
and your little sister were also able to successfully make
it to Germany, and I'm wondering how your whole family
is doing today.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
So pretty well, all of them live in Berlin, Germany.
My dad is still swimming coach, lifeguard, and my mom
does a physical therapy now. My little sister is super smart.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
I love talking to her.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
She's so driven and smart that I cannot wait to
see what she's going to do in the future. And
my older sister, yeah, Sarah, still does advocacy work and
is still based in Berlin, USA.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
I'm curious to know what you wish people better understood
about your experience as a refugee.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
It took me a while to fit in in Germany
so and I was seventeen. It took my parents way
longer than me to feel comfortable, to feel like they
fit in, to feel like they can feel like they
are a part of the society. But I'm going to
tell you one thing that is actually really sad. But
this is the reality of life. We as refugees sometimes
(21:59):
feel detached from where we come from and we don't
feel like we fit in. And then you society, so
no matter, I have a German passport, but still I
cannot say I am one hundred percent German, and I
cannot say I'm one hundred percent Syrian, and I cannot
be like I'm Syrian and German. There is something, there's
(22:22):
like a piece, like a small piece that's gonna always
be missing somehow.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
And this is a.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Pain that refugees have. They that they're gonna have for
a very long time. And that's okay and that's normal.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Hey, thanks so much for listening. Be sure to check
out the other two stories in this series if you
haven't heard them yet, with Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin
and Paralympic gold medalist Brad Snyder. And next week join
me for a conversation with doctor Molly Millwood, a therapist
who's honest writing about motherhood has changed how so many
(23:36):
people think about this major life transition. And if you
enjoyed this conversation, we on the Slight Change team would
be so grateful if you could share the episode with
someone you know. It helps us get the word out
so we can keep making more episodes for you. Thank
you so much and see you next week. A Slight
(24:04):
Change of Plans is created, written, and executive produced by
me Maya Shunker. The Slight Change family includes our showrunner
Tyler Green, our senior editor Kate Parkinson Morgan, our senior
producer Trisha Bobida, and our engineer Eric o'kwang. Luis Scara
wrote our delightful theme song, and Ginger Smith helped arrange
(24:24):
the vocals. A Slight Change of Plans is a production
of Pushkin Industries, so a big thanks to everyone there,
and of course a very special thanks to Jimmy Lee.
You can follow A Slight Change of Plans on Instagram
at doctor Maya Shunker. See you next week and
Hushkin, you do hear the bombings all the time when
you're living in the war zone.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So me and my.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Older sister were like, we need to go because it's
only getting worse. We knew that we're not safe. We
knew that every day you get out of the apartment
is a risk and you might never see your family again.
Speaker 3 (00:43):
When Olympic swimmer You Sir Mardini was just a teenager,
she and her sister fled their homeland of Syria. They
went on a dangerous journey across Europe before finally seeking
asylum in Germany.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
I was in a refugee camp when I arrived for
a few months, and me and my sister and everyone
else got to Germany. We had so much paperwork to do.
We sometimes would wait in line from twelve am until
eight am the next day to have just a number.
That's how crazy it was at that point, and for me,
(01:18):
my escape was sports.
Speaker 3 (01:24):
On today's episode, a Syrian refugee fights for her dreams.
I'm maya Shunker and this is a slight change of plans,
a show about who we are and who we become
in the face of a big change. As a teenager
(01:51):
used her care at about two things, hanging out with
her friends and swim practice. She was a star on
the Syrian national swim team and had big dreams of
one day representing her country at the Olympics. But as
the Syrian Civil War intensified, even everyday activities like walking
to school or a friend's house became dangerous.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
I remember one time I was thirteen years old. I
was walking to see my friends and there was like
a bomb attack, literally like two hundred meters behind me.
I look back, I go to the pharmacy. I stand
there for a few minutes and I continue afterwards. That's
how normal it became. And I wouldn't tell my mom
(02:35):
because then I cannot go out. I had a friend
where she did lose her life while being in her bedroom.
I heard so many stories about people being in their
houses and then missile attacks or bomb attacks, and it
was like, I am risking my life being home or outside.
(02:55):
So I would rather, you know, try to rebel in
my own way, to be like you know what we
need to like try and have a normal life.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Yeah, you've mentioned such dangerous circumstances, and I know that
this danger followed you to the pool. You're one place
of refuge. So do you mind describing what that was like.
Speaker 2 (03:18):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
So the pool is a fifty meter pool and the
building is mostly glass. Sometimes I'd be swimming like backstroke
and I'll see holes in the roof because of the missiles.
I remember that day we were practicing, just like any
other day. You heard something like a really loud knock,
but you didn't know what was going on. It took
(03:40):
us a moment to realize that it was literally a
missile in the water. It did not explode, so the
coach was shouting at everyone to go hide. Everyone started running.
Everyone's like trying to get out of the pool to
go and hide. Me and my older sister were like
waiting for my mom to pick us up. I got
my mom just shaking and just crying. I couldn't speak,
(04:04):
and then my mom was just like shouting trying to
make sure that we are okay, and I couldn't respond.
So I got in the car. I couldn't respond, and
I think it was me being in shock. I was terrified,
but I was also used to it, which is really sad.
I was sixteen years old and this was normal for me.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
What solace, if any did you find in the act
of swimming, Like, did that help bring structure focus to
your life during this time? Oh?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Yeah, I did not want to let it go.
Speaker 1 (04:38):
For me, it was about proving that I am talented
enough that I you know, I'm always going to be
the fastest. If I want something in life, I work very,
very hard to get it. My mom would shout at
me because I would come back home so tired. I'll
sleep with my backpack, That's how tired I was.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
When did you and your sister I first realize that
you might want to try and leave Syria, Because I mean,
obviously what you've described us is so unimaginably harrowing, but
it's still so challenging to imagine leaving everyone and everything
you know and love behind. I mean, it's just hard
to understate the pull of home.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
Yeah, me and my older sister were like, we need
to go because it's only getting worse. We knew that
we're not safe, we knew that every day you get
out of the apartment is a risk and you might
never see your family again.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
So the first conversation.
Speaker 1 (05:38):
That we had was with my dad. We were like,
we need to go to Germany. They were just welcoming refugees,
and he said no. My mom said no. For my parents,
the conversation was not even on the table. For us
to leave two girls living alone, that's insane. And my
dad was like, find me someone I could trust. And
(06:00):
then our cousin came by and he was going with
his uncle. So then we opened the conversation with my
family again. And then it took ten days for us
to leave. My mom was crying every day for ten
days straight. They booked the flights from Libanon to Turkey.
We got to the airport and I remember we got
(06:23):
on the plane and the flight attendant was like, please
do not steal the life jackets.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Wow. Yeah, they said that on the plane.
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Because they knew so many people were headed down the
same yeah, towards the same machine.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
They knew.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Yeah, they knew there were thousands of people trying to
escape Syria.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Were you scared, you, Sarah? You say everything is so
matter of factly, and so I'm just so curious, like,
and you're seventeen years old at this time, right, Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
I think this part I'm thankful for my parents for
because they raised us to be ready for everything, and
every time I doubted anything I was like, my sister's here.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
She's here.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
I used to like beg her for like sleepover in
her bed, even though like we're in the same room.
So she gives me sort of some type of peace,
even though we're very different. Me and my sister were
very different, but whenever she's there, she was like a
parent for me too, how much older three years So
(07:35):
I was like, Okay, my sister's here, and for me,
I knew that this was my last chance to survive
and try to survive and fight for everything. It's the
human instinct in the end. Absolutely, it's just I want
to live.
Speaker 3 (07:56):
You say, there's so many parts of your harrowing journey.
It took twenty five days, but I want to focus
in on one part of the journey, which is when
you found a smuggler to help you take a small
boat across the sea in order to get to Greece.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Yeah, we found these smugglers and yeah they were like, okay,
you have to pay thy five hundred euros for each
person for the sea journey, and you're gonna come tomorrow
to this place again at five pm. It was to
take us to the island, one of the closest islands
in Turkey to Greece. So we all pack this one
(08:38):
pack pack that we had from Syria. We didn't have
anything else. Anyway, you sit in the bus, you close
the curtain. That was four hours. So when we got there,
we waited for four days to be able to get
on the boat. No water, no connection, no food, You
are not allowed to talk to anyone.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
So what was it like finally getting into this little
I mean when I say boat, I mean literally like
it's a small rapper boat.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Yeah, it's very inhumane.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
So the dinghy like fits usually like if you want
to be comfortable for like five six people, and we
were twenty people and one child that was six years old.
So the smugglers take people, let them on the boat,
they start the motor for you, and they let you go.
Whatever happens afterwards, that's it. So usually the trip does
(09:33):
not take more than like forty five minutes because obviously
the islands are so close. So we got on the
boat and then the motor stops after like fifteen minutes.
The whole journey, the motor keeps working and stopping the
whole time. It's an experience where I'm a swimmer and
I was terrified of the water. All of us on
(09:56):
the boat, we were praying in one voice as they'll
remember that. Some people were taking the water out of
the boat. Some people were like trying to steer it.
Someone was calling the coastguards saying please save us, and
they were like turn and go back. So that was
a moment for me where I was like, there is
(10:17):
no humanity. So the first thing that we did is
throw everything we had, all the belongings. There was a
friend of my dad that was also with us, so
he stands up, he jumps in the water to stabilize
the boat to try and save everyone. And then the
next person to stand up and jump in the water
was my sister, and then I stood up. I went
(10:39):
from the other side, and she was furious and I
was like, I'm a swimmer too. There was a rope
around the dinghy, so me and my sister we tried
to grab one rope and then tried to swim. It
took us three hours and a half to get to
that shore. It was really cold, but we couldn't just
let go and leave.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
You had confidence that you and your older sister would
survive this because you're swimmers. But what was painful for
you is the idea that maybe everyone else might not.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
Me and my sister, we could have swum it. We
swum open water before ninety percent of the people on
the boat did not know how to swim. I also
remember doing like smiley faces for the kid, like staying
my tongue out because I didn't want him to feel
like we were drowning.
Speaker 3 (11:28):
What was it like on an emotional level to share
in an experience like this with a group of strangers,
I mean, people you didn't even know days prior.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Even though the strip was horrible in every aspect, the
inhumane way we were treated, I think we were very,
very lucky to have those people on the boat because
we all worked together to save each other's lives. You
can make it in life on your own, but it's
not as beautiful as when everyone makes it.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
We'll be back in a moment with a slight change
of plans. Everyone in Eusra's boat made it safely across
the sea to Greece. After they arrived, User and her
(12:24):
sister continued their journey, mostly by foot, through four more
countries before finally reaching Berlin. They were accepted into refugee housing,
where they found safety but little privacy. Eustra spent her
days filling out mountains of paperwork to seek asylum. She
missed her family in swim practice and the warm weather
(12:45):
back home.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
The moment I got to Germany, it was gray and cold,
and I did not like it at all. I was saying,
I'm going to go back home soon. This is temporary.
I didn't want to give up on going back to
my country. I was, of course thankful to be in
a country where they took us in as refugees, but
it is not that simple or easy. I know refugees
(13:10):
that do not feel like they fit in until today
and it's eight years since they left Syria.
Speaker 2 (13:16):
It's not that they're.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Not trying, but the trauma and to process everything they
went through is not easy. Not everyone's welcoming. Me and
my sister were very, very lucky to meet incredible people
that wanted to help. But not everyone meets people that
want to help and want to make them feel at home.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
So I was in a refugee camp when I arrived
for a few months, and me and my sister and
everyone else that got to Germany, we had so much
paperwork to do. We sometimes would wait in line from
twelve am until eight am the next day to have
just a number. That's how crazy it was at that point.
(13:58):
And for me, my escape was sports. I think after
three months of getting to Germany, we made an appointment
with a swimming club and the coach goes, okay, can
you go change and jump in the pool. I want
to see your skills. We go, there's one problem, we
don't have swimming suits. Can you give us swimming suit? Right?
(14:19):
So he goes and grabs swimming suits and we swim.
I think, yeah, he was really surprised by the skills
and level of US swimming.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
And after that, yeah, I went back to practice.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
Wow. Wow, Yeah, you go back to practice and you're
in the pool again. So yeah, walk me through what
that evolution was like.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
So I met Sven, which was my coach at the time.
I sat down with him and he said, what are
your goals? And I said, I want to go to
the Olympics. And it was twenty fifteen, so my goal
and his goal was that I participate at the Tokyo
Olympics twenty twenty.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
Then there was an announcement.
Speaker 1 (15:06):
That the creation of the first ever refugee Olympic team
will happen in Rio twenty sixteen that I did not
consider going as a refugee. At that point, I did
not want to. I was struggling because where I come from,
a refugee wasn't something great like being like, oh, yeah,
(15:28):
I'm a refugee I left, I'll be like, no, I'm Syrian.
Speaker 2 (15:31):
I want to earn my spot.
Speaker 1 (15:33):
I want to prove that I belong at the Olympics,
that I did everything I could in my life for
the sport. When I did not want to go to
the Olympics as a refugee, my mom was like, if
you don't remember how hard you worked, remember the hours
I was waiting for you and driving you to practice
(15:53):
and drying your hair, making your sandwiches.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
I love how they said, like, if you don't remember
how hard you were, remember how hard we worked.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Oh. Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (16:03):
And then my dad, I remember him coaching me all
the time. Yeah, my sister being my biggest supporter and competitor.
At the same time, they all told me sometimes there
are opportunities in life that you will never have again,
and we know how hard you worked and how much
you deserve that you should go. I went back to
(16:24):
swim and I told him I want to go to
the Olympics. But I was still not okay, like not
one hundred percent sure about what is this refugee Olympic team.
It's going to happen for the first time in history?
Will people be okay with it? Will people will? Will
they welcome it? There's another announcement a few months later
(16:45):
that three athletes made it on the team basically, and
one of them is a Syrian swimmer that's based in Germany,
and the media goes crazy. We got three hundred plus
emails that day. The story goes viral and everyone's like, oh,
(17:06):
from refugee to an Olympian. The face of the refuge
Olympic team. She speaks amazing English. I was like, oh, God, like,
come on, yeah, a lot of Syrians speak at English.
You know. I won my heat when I swam, so
that was also really insane. I met the athletes on
(17:27):
the refuge Olympic team, so many people that showed me
so much love that I was not expecting in my life.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
But the moment that everything changed.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
For me about who I am, about what a refugee
is is the moment I stepped foot in the Olympic stadium.
In the opening ceremony, I realized that every person in
that stadium stood up for the team. I met the team,
and I realized that this team is just about to
(17:58):
give the world a very strong message. We do not
come from the same countries, yet we are forming this
team that sends a message of hope to the world.
It was an incredible time for me and that's where
everything started.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Yeah, your experience in the twenty sixteen Olympics changed you
so much that you opted to be part of the
Olympic refugee team in twenty twenty. Right, that was a
proactive choice. Tell me a bit more about that.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Yes, I decided to go to Tokyo again and I
was working really hard to be there, and the Syrian
team reached out and told me you qualified for us
and you can go with Syria, and I respected that
and that was very a happy moment for me because
it was something that I wanted to know that I've
(18:50):
done in life. But I chose to compete for the
refugee Olympic team because of what I am trying to
do in life right now, which is change the people's
perspective and ideas about refugees and what can we do
and what can we not? So yeah, I competed again
for the Refugee Olympic team. I loved every moment of it.
(19:13):
To be honest, I would not change anything about both experiences, Like, yeah,
the dream.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
Wow, that's amazing. You Srah, can you tell me to
bring me after speed on present day? I mean, you
since retired from swimming, you built this foundation. Tell me
a bit more about the foundation and what your goals
are for how you spend the rest of your life.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
I decided that it was time to move on from
swimming and it's time for studying. I study film and
TV production because I'm a storyteller and I want to
be able to tell other people's stories, not just mine.
I know that the events that happen in my life
are so insane, but I am so thankful because now
(19:56):
I get to say I know that I can help people,
and I know that I can tell people that they
can help others and that coexistence is really beautiful. Last year,
in June, I decided to launch my own foundation, and
it is a nonprofit foundation that is focusing on helping
(20:19):
refugees through education in sports. Because I felt like my
education and access to sport helped me become who I
am today. For me, sports was my home for the
longest time and it will always be and it helped
me with my mental health and struggling a lot in life.
So I want to give that opportunity to refugees that
(20:41):
are still in camps, that are still trying to figure
out what are they going to do in their lives.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
And then tell me about your family. Estra, your parents
and your little sister were also able to successfully make
it to Germany, and I'm wondering how your whole family
is doing today.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
So pretty well, all of them live in Berlin, Germany.
My dad is still swimming coach, lifeguard, and my mom
does a physical therapy now. My little sister is super smart.
Speaker 2 (21:13):
I love talking to her.
Speaker 1 (21:14):
She's so driven and smart that I cannot wait to
see what she's going to do in the future. And
my older sister, yeah, Sarah, still does advocacy work and
is still based in Berlin, USA.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
I'm curious to know what you wish people better understood
about your experience as a refugee.
Speaker 1 (21:36):
It took me a while to fit in in Germany
so and I was seventeen. It took my parents way
longer than me to feel comfortable, to feel like they
fit in, to feel like they can feel like they
are a part of the society. But I'm going to
tell you one thing that is actually really sad. But
this is the reality of life. We as refugees sometimes
(21:59):
feel detached from where we come from and we don't
feel like we fit in. And then you society, so
no matter, I have a German passport, but still I
cannot say I am one hundred percent German, and I
cannot say I'm one hundred percent Syrian, and I cannot
be like I'm Syrian and German. There is something, there's
(22:22):
like a piece, like a small piece that's gonna always
be missing somehow.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
And this is a.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Pain that refugees have. They that they're gonna have for
a very long time. And that's okay and that's normal.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Hey, thanks so much for listening. Be sure to check
out the other two stories in this series if you
haven't heard them yet, with Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin
and Paralympic gold medalist Brad Snyder. And next week join
me for a conversation with doctor Molly Millwood, a therapist
who's honest writing about motherhood has changed how so many
(23:36):
people think about this major life transition. And if you
enjoyed this conversation, we on the Slight Change team would
be so grateful if you could share the episode with
someone you know. It helps us get the word out
so we can keep making more episodes for you. Thank
you so much and see you next week. A Slight
(24:04):
Change of Plans is created, written, and executive produced by
me Maya Shunker. The Slight Change family includes our showrunner
Tyler Green, our senior editor Kate Parkinson Morgan, our senior
producer Trisha Bobida, and our engineer Eric o'kwang. Luis Scara
wrote our delightful theme song, and Ginger Smith helped arrange
(24:24):
the vocals. A Slight Change of Plans is a production
of Pushkin Industries, so a big thanks to everyone there,
and of course a very special thanks to Jimmy Lee.
You can follow A Slight Change of Plans on Instagram
at doctor Maya Shunker. See you next week and
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