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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:
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.
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.
Yes, but my parents also lived in Italy for a long time, so they got the Italian passport as well.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
So my role is to be the ambassador to show the world that I am able to play sports despite the conditions they put me through. I don’t have any support from the Olympic committee, they don’t have money, what can you expect from them, especially in a situation like this? So I support myself. I go to work here in Dubai. It’s the best place for me and my family. We have been living here for so many years now. It's a country that has given us everything.
Yes, I have my own business. I opened a factory here in Dubai last year. It’s in Jebel Ali. My dad sells office chairs, I sell lounge chairs. Of course, it helped me set up a business as my dad had all the contacts, he already knew all the people, he knew the market. I am kind of spreading my father’s business. It’s doing great.
Look, I am already an Arab champion. In fact, I am a two-time champion at the Arab Games. That was the goal in swimming, to be the best in the Arab world. In Paris, my ranking is 30-something, I am not a medal contender, but I will not be that far from the top swimmers. I want to do my personal best time to show that I can give the world’s best swimmers a run for their money.
Yes, I have no heroes in swimming. My hero is my dad. I don’t look at swimmers as idols. I look at people outside the pool, what all people have faced in their lives. You may see somebody who is leading a normal life, doing a normal job, but where did he come from? You know my dad used to sleep in the streets in Italy. Yes, he used to sleep in the streets and sell tomatoes. So that’s why I say swimming is not everything in my life. It's what I have learned from my dad, all the things he did to get this far. This is what inspires me.
The Olympics is big. In the history of Palestine, there have been just about 25 Palestinian athletes. To be one of 25, or to be among 10,000 athletes in a world of eight billion people, you know, it’s surreal. For me, how I can use this platform to be a better person. When I swim, a lot of people will see me, maybe even the kids of Gaza will see me and the people of Palestine will see me and smile for one moment in that situation they are.
When I went to swim at the world championships, many kids messaged me, ‘We love you, Yazan. You are swimming for Palestine, thank you so much’. At the end of the day, I look at these things as a tool, I use it to spread the message of Palestine, to be a better person, and to learn from people. So yes, to be in Paris is an amazingly beautiful opportunity.
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