From Dubai pools to Paris olympics: This teenager has been swimming since she was 4
Meet Karin Belbeisi, a teenager who already has something many athletes can only dream of: Olympic qualification. Jordanian swimmer Karin Belbeisi has been selected to compete in the 400m freestyle event in Paris and for a teenager, to be part of the Olympic Games is a dream come true. This is something she’s been looking forward to since she was very young.
“I’ve always had this dream since I was a child,” Belbeisi told me last year. “The Olympics is something I heard about when I was around five or six years old. The first time anyone asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up, I would say ‘I want to go to the Olympics’. I want to be an Olympian.”
Swimming has always been the focus in Karin’s young life. “I started swimming when I was about four,” she said. “My mum started me in swimming. I really loved it. I never wanted to do any other sports other than swimming, so that’s why I continued.”
Her parents are both sporting influences, with her dad playing basketball and her mum, who swam while pregnant with Karin, taking her to the pool pre-birth.
Qualification for Paris was met with happy tears from the Belbeisi family. “It was the biggest shock of my life, honestly,” she said. “I remember my mum got a call from the federation. She was coming in my room shouting and jumping. I didn’t know what was going on; I was in complete shock. I was so happy, I was shaking and both my mum and dad were in tears, happy tears.”
Karin Belbeisi: One of our KT+150 listmakers in the Sports category. Strength, passion and calmness under pressure defined Karin’s appearance at our inaugural KT+150 Meet & Celebrate reception last March.
Comments