Mariam Saleh Binladen, a Saudi Arabian endurance swimmer has set the record with her four hour swim from Tiran island, Saudi Arabia to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. During her nine kilometer swim, Lewis Pugh was with her in the water accompanying her. Lewis Pugh is British South African swimmer and an ocean advocate. He was actually the first swimmer to complete long-distance swims in every single ocean in the world.
Binladen spoke to Arab News, as she expressed her feelings during the intense swim, “During the final moments of the swim, I felt elated, a sense of jubilation, and blessed to have achieved my goal with my body intact.” She also went on to explain the conditions she was concerned about which not only included weather and wind, but also sharks. Did you know she had also agreed to swim without protective cages? What a dedication on behalf of an athlete.
The Saudi Arabian swimmer has been practicing and competing in the sport since 2012. She told Arab News more about her training and routine, “I train hard at least three times a week. Over my weekends, I alternate between four to six hours of swims to maintain momentum. I maintain a dedicated fitness regime, and I keep to a physically gruelling schedule when I am preparing for a challenge,” she added.
Apart from breaking this impressive record, Mariam is also a humanitarian who has dedicated most of her time to help Syrian refugees and highlight their safety. As for her profession, she is a dentist. The humanitarian has also managed to combine her profession with philanthropy as she opened a dental center in Jordan for refugees to provide all the services relating to dental and oral care, free of charge for those in need.
This is not the first record Mariam broke, as she has multiple records. In June 2016, she became the first woman to swim the whole of the Thames River, which to put into perspective is 101 miles in 10 days. She was also the first women in the GCC to complete an assisted swim across the English Channel, and another one would be that she was the first woman to swim across the Dubai Creek and Dubai Water Canal completing a distance of 24 km.
