Germany, Berlin, October 24, 2015, Ysra Mardini (age 17), during a training session at the swimming club Wasserfreunde Spandau 04.
Sarah (age 20) and Ysra Mardini (age 17), Syrian sisters from Damascus, swam from Turkey to the Greek island of Lesbos for seeking asylum.
The Mardini sisters left Syria in August, 2015, because they had given up the hope that the war will end soon. They travelled to Lebanon, then to Turkey and paid smugglers to take them to Greece. But the Turkish coastguard drove their boat back. At second time the small boat was totally overloaded with people. After half an hour the engine failed. So, the sisters and three other refugees jumped into the water to push the boat foreward. Three hours later they all reached Lesbos. Finally Sarah and Ysra made it to reach Austria and then Germany.
Both are excellent swimmers. Ysra, the younger one, has represented Syria at the world championships in Turkey in 2012. Before their flight Sarah worked as a lifeguard in a swimming pool in Syria. After arriving the sisters came in touch with Wasserfreunde Spandau 04, a swimming club near to their refugee shelter. Now, both girls training on a daily basis.
The picture could go with an interview by Rebecca Murray.