From Palestine to Paris: Dubai-based swimmer shares his Olympic story

As we began the final phase of our conversation on the Zoom video call, Yazan Al Bawwab offered me that infectious smile again and paused apologetically. He suddenly wanted to show me something which was close to his heart — his Paris Olympics accreditation card bearing his name, headshot, and his nationality.

“So here it is, my accreditation,” he said as he held aloft the card, bringing it closer to the camera. “You can’t take a picture of this, you know, it’s not allowed. But I want you to see this,” he smiled again.

Until then, this 24-year-old swimmer had allowed me to peek into his entire world with his father, Rashad Al Bawwab, being the glue that held every little piece together so his son could dream big enough to become an Olympian.

Rashad left Palestine to escape the endless cycle of uncertainties and poverty and started a new life as a refugee in Italy where he even worked as a street vendor. It’s an incredible story of a man from a war-torn country who keeps defying the odds in life.

Now a successful businessman in Dubai where he sells furniture, Rashad also helped Yazan establish his own business and a chunk of their wealth goes into his swimming ambitions.

“The Olympic Association (in Palestine) has no funds, so we have to help ourselves,” Yazan smiled again.

The self-funded sporting voyage has now put Yazan on the verge of becoming only the second Palestinian swimmer to swim in two back-to-back Olympic Games.

During our candid conversation, Yazan admitted that he is not a medal prospect in the 200m backstroke event in Paris. But his story is not about the numbers and medals, it’s about being in the Olympics, the grandest of all sporting stages in the world, to be an ambassador for a country where thousands of people, including athletes, referees and coaches, have lost their lives to a brutal war.

Amidst that bloodbath, Yazan, who is also an aerospace engineer, has landed in Paris where he is likely to be the flagbearer of the six-member Palestinian team of athletes in Friday’s opening ceremony.

Excerpts from the interview:

You are about to realise your Olympic dream again…

Yes, we are only two swimmers in the Palestine team. So, it is just me and Valerie (Tarazi), she is based in the US. So we have been training here (in Paris) as you know in Palestine, there are no pools to train. Since I live in Dubai, it’s easier for me because Dubai has the best pools in the world.

Were you born in Dubai?

I was born in Saudi Arabia, but I lived there only for two years and the rest of my life in Dubai. I also went to Canada to study, but now I live in Dubai.

Your parents... they are both from Palestine.

Yes, but my parents also lived in Italy for a long time, so they got the Italian passport as well.

So, how did swimming attract you because you come from the Middle East where almost every kid wants to kick around a football everywhere, whether it’s in a parking lot or in the streets…

You know my swimming journey is actually not my story, it’s my dad’s. It was his dream. My dad was a refugee (in Italy), he left Palestine when he was young to escape poverty. He wanted to be educated, so he went to a university in Italy. He didn’t speak Italian, but he learned and studied, and now he has a factory in Dubai where he sells furniture. But when he was a kid, he always had a dream to be a swimmer. You know, he came out of poverty, and a lot of his dreams came true, but swimming was not one of them. So we went through a lot. We had nothing when we came to Dubai. But we grew to be something in Dubai. It gave my dad a chance to earn money and invest a lot in me and my swimming. It was something that he wanted to do himself, but could not. So, I ended up living his dream.

How old were you when your dad first pushed you to become a swimmer?

Funnily, my dad didn’t know how to swim when I was four, he didn’t push me, he threw me into the water. He just wanted me to be a swimmer, maybe he felt that it was something that was going to change my life. Of course, every parent wants the best for their child.

Your father worked so hard to raise his family in a way that he could give you everything you needed to become an elite swimmer. Given that backdrop, what was the moment like for you when you qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics?

Look, this is a tough question because my dad was proud of me without me doing anything. My dad was one of those guys who had unconditional love for us, he did everything for us. He worked very hard for us. But again, it’s just like any other parent, especially in our part of the world. Maybe the reason for this is that we come from poverty. The parents don’t want their kids to be in poverty. My dad worked very hard for us all his life. And when that moment came, when I actually made it to the Tokyo Games, he could not believe it. His eyes, he could not believe it. This was an amazing moment, I don’t think he was even dreaming about it. He is very proud, of course, and these are moments that cannot be explained.

Now qualifying for Paris in the middle of what is happening in Gaza, it probably means so much more to you and your family…

This moment (of competing at the Paris Olympics) is even more important than Tokyo, especially with the things that are happening now in Palestine. There are more eyes on Palestinian athletes because everybody wants to know about us, they have questions like ‘how did we qualify? Who are we? What are we doing?’ So at this moment, we want to represent Palestine in the best way possible. It’s a huge moment and for my dad to see that, I think he will be very happy.

Early this year, the Palestinian football team brought smiles to people’s faces by reaching the Asian Cup knockout rounds against all odds. Sports cannot heal the wounds, but it certainly can uplift the spirit. At 24, you are so young, but you have a big responsibility on your shoulders to do something that can give your country a reason to smile…

My role as a Palestinian athlete has two sides. An unfortunate and a very fortunate side. Unfortunately, people look at me for political reasons. They care about me because of the politics. Nobody really cares about my swimming. They don’t know my times, they don’t even look at my records. Why? Because they care about what I have to say about Palestine. But the reality is that being here, I have already won. I am raising the flag, I am doing the media, speaking to people. Sports is a platform where everybody is equal. And to be on this top platform to show the world that we are human. Yes, I am Palestinian, but I am human, I am like you, I like to play sports, I like to sleep, I like to eat pizza, I like to do things like every other young adult. Some people, when they hear that you are from Palestine, they have a misconception in their heads that we are bad people or something. Then they look at me, I am the ambassador of Palestine. Some people, when they hear the word Palestine, they remember numbers: how many died in the war, how many people, we don’t know their names, how many kids died. I am here to show that we are not just a number, we are also people.

These are very complex emotions for a young athlete to go through..

Look, the harsh reality is my dad always told me, nobody will help you, you have to help yourself, you have to be the best athlete, you have to be the best in school, you have to be the best in business, you have to do the best because unfortunately as Palestinians, we have to prove to people that we are good to get some respect.