Sara and Yusra Mardini, the Syrian refugees whose inspiring story was depicted in the 2022 Netflix biopic, “The Swimmers,” were named to TIME Magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people for 2023.
Featured in the “Icons” section of the awards, the Mardini sisters were honored by TIME last week at a gala in New York City. It wasn’t their first red carpet event, but it may have been the most star-studded. You can check out the full top 100 list here.
Back in 2015, Sara and Yusra fled Syria to find refuge from their home country’s civil war. They crossed the Aegean Sea with 18 other refugees on a raft that was only meant to hold six or seven. Their 25-day trek to Greece ended with them swimming for three hours in the open water to the island of Lesbos, guiding the overcrowded dinghy to safety after its engine failed.
After settling down in Berlin and training under German coach Sven Spannenkrebs, Yusra qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympics as a member of the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team and won her 100-meter butterfly heat in her Olympic debut, placing 41st overall. She competed again at the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, lowering her lifetime best in the 100 fly by more than two seconds.
In 2018, Yusra wrote an autobiography about her experience titled “Butterfly: From Refugee to Olympian — My Story of Rescue, Hope and Triumph.” She now studies cinematic arts at USC. Meanwhile, Sara returned to Lesbos to work with a non-governmental organization supporting refugees on the island. In January, Greek authorities dropped charges against Sara in a case that denounced internationally by human rights organizations as an attempt to criminalize migrant rescue work.
After “The Swimmers” was released last September, it peaked at No. 2 on Netflix’s charts in November. Earlier this year, the movie was nominated for a British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award in the Outstanding British Film category.
Yusra appeared on the SwimSwam Podcast in December to share the story in her own words.
