Ziyad Saleem took his spot at the top of the podium with a backstroke gold medal for Sudan at the African Championships and cherished hearing the anthem of his parents' homeland play. Next, the University of California swimmer who trains regularly with decorated U.S.
Ziyad Saleem smiles while being interviewed in Berkeley, Calif., Tuesday, May 28, 2024. Saleem, a University of California swimmer, is headed to the Paris Olympics to swim for Sudan , his parents’ home country and one almost all of his relatives have now fled because of war and a massive humanitarian crisis. Ziyad Saleem poses in Berkeley, Calif., Tuesday, May 28, 2024.
When Saleem won a medal five years ago in Tunisia for one of his country’s big successes in an international meet, he received royal treatment afterward. A world away from Sudan’s turmoil, Saleem relishes his new life in the diverse Bay Area swimming next to decorated U.S. Olympian Ryan Murphy in the Cal pool day after day, hour after hour, set after set.
It’s hard for Saleem to believe he’s in the water alongside a former world-record holder like Murphy. This isn’t how it was supposed to go for Saleem. He committed to Iowa only to have the Hawkeyes program get cut because of COVID-19, suddenly leaving his college career path uncertain.But when Saleem started dropping a couple of seconds in each of his events early on as a high school senior, Cal took notice. He committed without a visit or even talking to anybody on the team.
Saleem was born in Milwaukee but holds dual citizenship, allowing him to compete for his parents’ homeland in the Olympics. Mohamed Saleem cherishes every chance to see his son compete for Sudan. He has secured Olympic berths in the 100 and 200 back — his best event — through each country’s one free entry, exempting him from qualifying minimums.
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