Syrian Swimmer Yusra Mardini On The Olympics, Life In LA, & Her Partnership With Oris

Stop the boats? Yusra Mardini and her sister famously swam to safety. She talks to Charlotte Metcalf about fleeing Syria, her collaboration with Oris and how she’s giving back.

Interview: Olympic Swimmer Yusra Mardini

Anyone who watched the 2022 film The Swimmers will know Yusra Mardini’s story. She and her sister, Sara, fled war-torn Syria and made the treacherous journey across the Aegean from Turkey to Lesbos. As their overladen dinghy started sinking, the sisters jumped into the sea, swimming alongside it to lighten the load and save their fellow refugees’ lives. Mardini went on to swim in the 2016 Rio Olympics as a member of the Refugee Team. I saw the film three times and was so inspired by the sisters’ story that when I heard Mardini had become brand ambassador for Oris, I jumped at the chance to talk to her.

Now 26, Mardini lives in Los Angeles, where she’s studying media and arts at the University of Southern California. ‘I love it here. It’s so cool and I love the sunshine!’ she enthuses, like a carefree teenager, belying her extraordinary reserves of resilience and courage. ‘I come from a big, loving, supportive family, and The Swimmers depicted that happy part of my life in a good, mainly true way – fairly incredible for Hollywood. When Dad left for Jordan as a swimming coach. It was incredibly tough for my mum, sisters and me being alone in a war zone.

Everything had tripled in price, so we all had to earn – at 15, I worked as a lifeguard. There were so many bombs, you never knew if you were going to survive when you stepped outside. It was terrifying saying goodbye to your family each day and not knowing if you were going to see them again. We couldn’t really meet any of our friends or fulfil our dreams and Sara and I felt our lives had already been stolen from us. So, being young, naïve and a little bit crazy, we thought, “Okay, we’re risking our lives here anyway so why don’t we make a break for it? We can do this!”’

The sisters chose Germany for its open-door asylum policy. Her mother and younger sister later followed, also by small boat, and settled in Berlin. ‘While home is very influenced by where my family is, I’m not in Germany so I guess home is anywhere I feel comfortable and I’m doing what I like doing,’ says Mardini. ‘And I have survivor’s guilt, so daily I think how lucky I am to have clothes, food, a room.’

She shows me her favourite pink Oris watch and continues, ‘It’s incredible for me to collaborate with such a beautiful, luxury brand that shares my values, that understands what an impact it can make by giving back, whether it’s using fishing nets or recycled plastics in its watches.’

Last summer Mardini also collaborated with Welcome 66, an NGO facilitating social inclusion and professional integration of refugees and asylum seekers. She worked on a swim programme in France teaching refugees to swim. ‘Although I’m an Olympic swimmer, I’m also terrified of the ocean, making it easy for me to understand what it’s like for refugees who can’t even swim. People nearly died, and know others who did, so they are naturally traumatised by the sea. But you have to add up to more than what happened to you and go back to those bad places that hurt. That’s how you heal and get brave and strong enough to give back.

‘I don’t think it’s all going to be rainbows and sunshine with everyone opening their doors to refugees, but I do think we’re nearer to understanding how anyone can have to flee, from war, famine, climate change, earthquakes. Becoming a refugee doesn’t change anything about who people are, or their values – it only added to my qualities, giving me tolerance and empathy and determination to work harder for what I want in life. And there are other exceptional women, like Malala and Greta, dedicating their lives to bring change. People in refugee camps or conflicted areas don’t have a voice and I see it as a duty to talk on their behalf and tell their stories.’

Working with Oris and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is giving Mardini the platform she needs: ‘I’d say I’m pretty privileged with the opportunities I have, and I’d like to use my degree to create films that tell real life stories and drive change. It could be refreshing for a Syrian woman to be in Hollywood. ‘But I’m only human so small things still scare me and I get overwhelmed when people expect me to know exactly what to say at the right time.’

It’s no surprise she turns to sport for solace: ‘Swimming, running, lifting weights – they all help release emotions. But then some days I just want to curl up, eat ice cream and watch Netflix.’ Looking way ahead, she says she’s motivated by the Nobel Peace Prize. ‘I recognise that’s an insane goal, so right now I’m just trying to gure out what my next steps are.’ Meanwhile, she’s finally allowing herself to believe that Assad has gone and Syria is free. ‘So many Syrians are still traumatised, grieving and homeless so we need a government that respects our desire for freedom, peace and dignity. And that’s what I’ll go on fighting for and for everyone who’s without those basic human rights.’

Yusra Mardini is brand ambassador for Oris. oris.ch