By Alya Mooro

Egyptian-swimmer Farida Osman is a national treasure. Having competed around the world - including at the Olympics not one, but three times; becoming a record-breaker many times over in the process, Osman is living out her childhood dream of becoming a professional swimmer. She is, therefore, paving the way to inspire many more to follow in her path in a region – and a world – where sports is still often regarded as a man’s game. 

Here, she talks to author and writer Alya Mooro about what she’s learned through competing at the highest level, the importance of mental health, what it means to her to be an African woman, and much more… 

Growing up, what was your relationship like with your heritage? 

I was born in the US [as] my parents were studying dentistry at Indiana University. [We] moved straight back to Egypt, then I lived in Egypt throughout middle school and high school. I wanted to go to the US [for University] because I wanted to balance school and swimming; they're both really important to me and the US does a good job at balancing both. The first year [at university involved] so many changes... From living with my parents, I started living alone, from not really cooking, to making all my food on my own… all these little things we didn't really have to think about when we were living at home with our parents. It took time to adapt because I was also in a new country, a new program, [and a] new school. It was probably one of the hardest times to really adapt to a new system. 

[In terms of] culture shock, I wouldn't say it was too major because in Egypt we lived a pretty broadminded lifestyle, but obviously little things here and there were different. Every step of my journey, I had to go through so many changes and adjustments. Being North African, Egyptian, even Muslim, I had to learn so many things along the way. Because I luckily have a very strong support system, it really helped when I was travelling and got exposed to different things. 

It sounds like from a very young age, swimming was always something that was very important to you. How did you first start swimming and come to realise it was something you wanted to pursue professionally? 

At a young age, my parents wanted my brother and I to learn how to swim, so that whenever we went to the beach places [in Egypt], we would know how to. It was more like a soft skill to not drown – for safety. When I started swimming, the coaches started telling my parents they could see potential. I'm a very competitive person, so that helped a lot, because swimming is very competitive. I really enjoyed the water and just felt very comfortable. From the very beginning, I fell in love with the sport and with the water. I started competing at my first national competition when I was 11 and joined the national team when I was 12; I was the youngest swimmer ever to join the national team. Since then, I've been competing nationally and internationally. 

You've competed at the highest of levels of swimming, including three times at the Olympics! What have you learned about yourself and the world through that process?

The biggest thing I've learned is the mental aspect of the sport. Growing up, we emphasise being physically in shape; you just have a coach and don't really care about the other things as much. As you grow older, and as you start performing more and more, there's pressure and expectations that people put on you. I'm the type of swimmer, like, if I'm mentally not okay, even if I'm in perfect physical shape, I would not perform [well]. Learning and even watching other swimmers throughout the world, I learned so many new things about approaching a race, [like that] my mental aspect is as important as physical, and sometimes even more important. Being surrounded with elite athletes all the time, I learned so many new things about how swimming is more than [just] a coach and a swimmer. There are so many other little details that eventually make the big difference. Like, for example, [the importance of having] a psychologist, a masseuse, a nutritionist… 

In an interview with Vogue, you spoke with model Halima Aden, who wrote that there’s such a small number of Black and Muslim people who learn how to swim compared to white people. She had never learned how to swim because she didn't have access to a pool or to swimwear suitable for her faith. What kind of challenges have you found in terms of being a female swimmer from a Middle Eastern, North African country? 

I think the biggest thing would be that there's always the stereotype: ‘Women are not really good [at] sports’ - especially when it comes to Middle Eastern, African women. We reach a certain age, and it’s like, ‘Now I have to stop sports and focus on getting married and finding my husband,’ kind of thing. But I think recently, women have changed that stereotype, where you can be very well educated, you can be a very good athlete, you can get married and have kids and still do sports. 

Also, being a Muslim, sometimes people ask questions like, ‘How? Aren't you supposed to be veiled?’ There are so many fixed stigmas about Muslim women and how they're supposed to be, or act, or do. I'm still Muslim, I'm still Egyptian, and I can still do all these things. It doesn't have to be this fixed mindset of how it's supposed to be. [Some people] just don’t know any better. I definitely got a lot of questions, but it wasn't from a place of negativity, it was more curiosity of like, ‘Oh! We want to know more, because we haven't seen that [before].’

You often speak about wanting to use your voice and your journey to encourage other Arab and African women to try out swimming or other sports, and you recently launched a swim camp. Why do you think that's so important? 

I always want to inspire and lead by example. The younger generation need to see that there's someone in front of them who went down the same path so they can see, like, ‘If she can do it, I can do it.’ I want to share more about my journey so that people can relate and be encouraged and inspired to do the same. Holding swim camps and giving speeches is important because I get to share my story. There are so many others who can relate, but who don’t have the resources or the accessibility of how to get there. I think the more I can share, the more I can hopefully help and inspire others to do the same. 

The theme of this month on AMAKA is Peace (in regards to mental health). What do those words mean to you and how do you see them play out in your own life and work?

When it comes to swimming, it's definitely more mental than physical. I mentally need to be in peace and calm and ready to go, before even being in top physical shape, so that I can perform my best. It's a very short race; I swim the 50 and 100 metres, so that's like, 25 seconds to 57 seconds – less than a minute. You don't have time to have a bothered mind. Literally, this is your one chance; one opportunity to perform your best. If you want to excel in sports – or in whatever you're doing in life – if you don't have a peaceful mind, you're not going to be able to be the best version of yourself and perform at the highest potential of what you can really do. 

How do you retain and protect your peace? What are the kinds of things that help you do that?

Meditation is something I do on a regular basis; it calms my mind and makes me more relaxed. I [also] started journalling. When I was [living] in Virginia, it was really hard to perform, because I need to socialize; I get my energy from people [and I didn’t really have many friends there]… [There are] all these little things I learned about myself that I need, so I can perform my best. 

I do a lot of visualization, where I pretty much prepare my race in my mind before actually going into the race. I close my eyes, I'm in a very still position and I think about my dive and every detail of the race, so by the time I actually perform in reality, it's like I know what's going to happen – my mind is ready. The mind doesn't really know the difference [between visualizing and being in reality], so it’s tricking the mind to be ready. Sometimes, I even prepare for if my goggles were to fall off, just in case it happens on race day; I visualise the things that might happen out of my control, so that my mind doesn't lose focus [if it does end up happening]. 

Honestly, it's a full-time job. Sometimes people ask me, ‘What do you do?’ And I'm like, ‘I'm a professional swimmer.’ And they're like, ‘That's it?’ But there are so many more things behind the scenes than just going to practice. There are so many little things that actually influence the overall performance.

What does it mean to be an African woman to you?

Being an African woman, I think, is just changing the stereotype and really leading by example; showing the world we can pretty much do it all. We can be amazing people, amazing athletes, [and] very well educated. The idea of an African woman has really changed in the last 10 years; we have seen so many African women – not even just in sports but in other areas, too – doing amazing things and inspiring others. African women have changed the stereotype of what we can do and excel at. 

Is there a woman from North Africa that you find particularly inspiring right now?

When it comes to athletes, [Tunisian] tennis player Ons Jabeur is very impressive. Sports is changing and what African women can do [is changing], because of how amazing she's performing.

Follow Farida Osman on Instagram here.

This is the fourth installment of the monthly Hakooli series, in which author and writer Alya Mooro speaks with groundbreaking North African women from across the disciplines and the diaspora, in an effort to spotlight and uncover all the brilliance the continent contains. 

Check out Alya’s picks of 3 more North African women in sports  in this month’s AMAKA newsletter.