Girl who learnt how to swim in Malta to represent Libya in Rio Olympics

Libya is not these days synonymous with good news but the story of 17-year-old Daniah Hagul offers hope to young people in the country and beyond. 

Hagul’s parents moved to Malta when she was a toddler and she started taking swimming lessons aged three or four because “everyone is always either in the pool or in the sea and everyone has to know how to swim.” 

She then took up competitive swimming some six years ago, with Hagul training for up to two hours a day in the Tal-Qroqq national swimming pool. 

The teenager, who exudes maturity beyond her age, hopes that her exploits in next month’s Rio Olympics help change a conservative society where few women dare put on a swimming costume in public.   

In Libya “a significant number of boys but hardly any other girls swim, so I hope that they watch me and are inspired to do the same,” the 17-year-old told AFP. 

Had her parents not moved to Malta she probably would not be on her way to Rio, where she will be among a group of around six athletes representing the battle-scarred country.  

Despite her young age, Daniah is also one of a very few women to represent Libya at the Olympics.

At the 2008 Beijing Games, Libyan-American Asmahan Farhat won a heat in a 100m breaststroke but did not get to the semi-finals, while in 2004, freestyler Amira Edrahi was the first Libyan woman swimmer to compete at an Olympics since Soad and Nadia Fezzani in the 1980 Moscow Games.

Daniah gets little coverage in her native Libya but she has became a bit of a social media sensation, with many of her compatriots hoping she can bring a medal home.  

Daniah goes to Rio on the back of the invaluable experience of training at an elite academy in the UK.

She was given the opportunity to train at the Mount Kelly school, an academy which has produced six Olympic medal winners.

With the Rio games fast approaching Daniah, who plans to become an architect, wakes up early every morning to swim lengths before classes. 

Her talents have drawn the attention of the Libyan Olympic Committee but the dire situation in Libya has meant that the funding she receives is limited.

Her parents have forked out most of the training and travel costs while Libyan businessman Husni Bey’s HB Group has also supported her.

Moreover, a crowd-funding campaign — “Help fund Daniah’s Olympic Dream!” — raised more more than €6,800 in a month to help the young athlete reach her goal. 

Daniah, who has already won medals in international competitions and qualified for last year’s World Championships in Kazan, Russia, hopes to be the first ever Libyan Olympic medalist.  

“It’s such an honour and a privilege and I can’t wait to do my country proud,” she said.