Wearing a hoodie on the pool deck at Bond University in early June, swimming instructor Omar Abbass had the ear of rookie swimmers as he demonstrated the freestyle technique.
With the ripples of the water glistening in the last rays of sunlight and the “Bull Sharks” nickname emblazoned in yellow and blue above the gym, the setting was idyllic.
The 25-year-old smiled brightly as he instructed the university’s international students, passing on critical tips in what truly could prove a lifesaving lesson on the Gold Coast given the allure of the city’s gorgeous beaches and the danger rips pose to inexperienced swimmers.
As he passed on the tips, the sounds of whistles being blown and coaches barking instructions on nearby sporting fields could be overheard on a glorious evening.
The scene is a world removed from the experience Abbass, who will swim for the Syrian Arab Republic in the men’s 200m freestyle in Paris on Sunday, was living a decade ago when the whistling came instead from bombs being dropped all around him.
Instead of teaching lifesaving skills, Abbass was risking his own while churning through near freezing water as the bombs fell in the midst of the Syrian civil war.
Introduced to swimming by his family as a five-year-old alongside his siblings, Abbass fell for chasing the black line while dreaming of becoming an Olympian.
The cold water did not dissuade him from his love even though, as Abbass told foxsports.com.au, the temperature outside in winter dipped into the negatives and the warmth of the pool he was training in sometimes hovered in the single digits.
But that was not the biggest challenge as discontent with the rule of Bashar al-Assad spilt into civil war amid the broader Arab Spring uprising in a conflict that continues to this day.
“My family was always scared to send me to the swimming pool. They would say, ‘You don’t have to do it. Why are you doing this? It’s very dangerous at this moment,’” he said.
“During the war, it was hard to put everything together. Other people were just running away. So as far as (me swimming), it was kind of very hard to keep doing it.
“But then I said ‘Okay, it’s better than just sitting around and doing nothing’. (But) it was very hard to swim, because I would be in the pool and there would be bombs sounding all around.”
The challenges of being a swimmer, or indeed, a Syrian during this period was relayed to the world through the Netflix series The Swimmers which focused on Yusra and Sara Mandini.
It told of their heroism in the Aegean Sea during an arduous journey after they fled Syria in 2015 to resettle in Germany before representing the refugee team in the Rio Olympics.
Abbass, who is a record-breaking swimmer in Syria, was a developing talent at the time and lived through similar horrors as he chased his own Olympic dream in Damascus.
No day was worse than the one when a fatal double-bombing almost claimed his life.
He was swimming a training race with a friend, while his dad watched from the pool deck, when a bomb was dropped on a neighbouring hotel, prompting his coach to scream at him.
“There was always something happening on the way to the swimming pool,” he said.
“At the centre, we had the swimming pool and football field, so I was swimming, training, and I heard something exploding. My friend kept swimming, but then I stopped because my coach (yelled) ‘Get out. Get out.’
“I remember the first bomb hit the hotel and then we got out from the swimming pool and as soon as I left from the swimming pool, we got to the changing rooms and … one bomb hit the swimming pool.”
It was another devastating day in Damascus among a decade of tragedy. About a dozen bombs went off in that raid, with a footballer and three hotel patrons dying in the attack.
“It was crazy. We are lucky to be alive,” Abbass said.
“We were trying to get out of the place and go home and when I got home and opened social media, I looked at the pictures and the news and (it was) a very hard time for us, very sad, because that’s where I trained and where I spent all my time.”
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Abbass was training with the Syrian team but, given the prolonged turmoil, the nation was banned from competing in the Arab Swimming Championships for several years.
His motivation dipped amid the dire situation and he considered quitting before an offer of a World Aquatic Scholarship proved a lifeline which enabled him to train initially in Thailand before the opportunity to move to Bond University arose towards the end of 2023.
“Australia was one of my dreams, actually, to get here. And then in 2023 … when I renewed my scholarship (and) they asked me if I wanted to go to Australia, it was like my dream came true,” he said.
“It’s very high performance training, which I have never really had before. It is a very good team and we have very good coaches. The team is very supportive. Here I am training with world champions and Olympians.”
Among the training partners of Abbass on the Gold Coast are Australian Olympians Flynn Southam, Elijah Winnington, Jenna Strauch and Ben Armbruster, who will all swim in Paris at the pool in Saint-Denis over the next week.
While his relocation has helped Abbass reach the pinnacle of world swimming, his presence on the Gold Coast has also been beneficial to the Australians according to Kyle Samuelson, the director of swimming at Bond University.
“I think it does open their eyes to what swimmers in other countries actually go through just to swim,” Samuelson said.
“(That is) particularly true with Omar, who would have told you about some of the troubles he’s had. I think it does open their eyes to what swimmers in other countries actually go through just to compete.
“Obviously if you are training and bombs are going off around the facility, it does make you understand and realise that we’re pretty grateful for what we’ve got here and the opportunities we are given as well.”
Abbass, who claimed gold and silver medals when Syria was allowed to compete in the Arab Championships last year, said there were still some clear challenges to overcome.
“The only thing that breaks my heart is that my family’s away. The only thing I’m thinking about when I am training is my family,” he said.
“It’s been five years since I moved for the first time from Syria. I had a decision (to make) that I either stayed in Syria and quit swimming, which (would allow me to) stay with my family, or just to go (and) prove myself and keep training.
“I just think sometimes I want to go back to stay with my family. I don’t want to swim anymore, because staying away from family is very hard.”
But the hard work and sacrifices have been worth it and Abbass will take his place in heats on Sunday night alongside Australians Thomas Neill and Maximillian Giuliani, as well as his hero David Popovici, the Romanian who won gold medals in the 100m and 200m at the World Championships in Budapest and shapes as the swimmer to beat in Paris.
“Going to the Olympics is the big goal for all the athletes in the world and to be an Olympian is the dream. I am very happy to have made it,” he said.
