Rafed Ziad El-Masri (; born August 10, 1982) is a German former swimmer of Syrian origin, who specialized in sprint freestyle events. He is also a four-time national champion for

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and a gold medalist for the men's 50 m freestyle event at the

2006 Asian Games The 2006 Asian Games (), officially known as the XV Asiad or 15th Asian Games (, and commonly known as Doha 2006 (), were an Asian multi-sport event held in Doha, Qatar, from December 1 to 15, 2006, with 424 events in 39 sports featured in the ga ...

Doha, Qatar Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It is also Qatar's ...

, representing his ancestral homeland

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Swimming career

El-Masri was born and raised in

Clausthal-Zellerfeld Clausthal-Zellerfeld () is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located in the southwestern part of the Harz mountains. Its population is approximately 15,000. The town hosts the Clausthal University of Technology. The health resort is locate ...

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

, by

n immigrants, whom his father studied geology at the

Clausthal University of Technology The Clausthal University of Technology (, also referred to as TU Clausthal or TUC) is an institute of technology ('' Technische Universität'') in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Lower Saxony, Germany. The small public university is regularly ranked amon ...

. He moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

at the age of five, where he eventually started swimming. At the peak of his sporting career, he had won several titles at the national championships for both long and short course swimming events. He also held a dual citizenship for Germany and Syria, which made him eligible to compete in future international competitions.

Syria (2004–2007)

In 2004, El-Masri became a member of SG Neukölln swimming club in

, and also, trained for the German national team. However, he decided to compete instead for the Syrian Olympic team at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. He qualified for the men's 50 m freestyle event, and swam in the eighth heat against four other competitors including Croatia's

Duje Draganja Duje Draganja (; born 27 February 1983) is a retired Croatian swimmer who won the silver medal in men's 50 metres freestyle race at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Career Draganja won a silver medal in 2005 World Aquatics Championsh ...

, who eventually won the silver medal in this event. El-Masri finished in fourth place of his assigned heat, with an impressive time of 22.58 seconds. He nearly missed out of the semi-final rounds, as he placed eighteenth in the overall rankings, tying his position with two-time Olympic champion Alexander Popov of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, and

Johan Kenkhuis Johan Kenkhuis (born 7 May 1980 in Vriezenveen, Overijssel) is an Olympic Games, Olympic medal winning Netherlands, Dutch swimmer. From a young age, Kenkhuis had a strong interest in swimming. In 1998, he won gold medals in both the 100 meter a ...

of the Netherlands. El-Masri continued to compete for Syria at two FINA World Championships (

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

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, and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

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), but failed to reach his personal best times set at the Olympics. He also won a gold medal for the men's 50 m freestyle at the

, with an impressive time of 22.41 seconds, just ahead of Japan's Makoto Ito, and China's Cai Li.

Germany (2008–present)

Having won the gold medal at the Asian Games, El-Masri made certain doubts in his decision if he could swim for either Syria or Germany, because of his dual citizenship. In 2008, he qualified for the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, after finishing second in the 50 m freestyle event at German national trials, just behind

Steffen Deibler Steffen Deibler (born 10 July 1987) is a German former competitive swimmer from Biberach an der Riß. From 2009 to 2018 he was the world record holder for the 50 m butterfly ( short course). Swimming career Deibler specialized in short dist ...

, with a time of 21.80 seconds. Shortly before the games, El-Masri was given a chance by

FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

to switch nationalities, after having represented his country of origin at the previous Olympics, and at the World Championships. Representing his adopted nation

, El-Masri competed in the men's 50 m freestyle, along with his compatriot Deibler, who finished ahead of him in the trials. He challenged seven other swimmers on the twelfth heat, including heavy favorites

Amaury Leveaux Amaury Raymond Leveaux (born 2 December 1985) is a French swimmer from Delle, Territoire de Belfort. Leveaux is a former world record holder in the 100 m freestyle (short course – 44.94 sec), the 50 m freestyle (short course – 20.48 sec) ...

of France and three-time Olympian

Stefan Nystrand Stefan Nystrand (born 20 October 1981) is a freestyle swimmer from Sweden. Biography His father Sture Nystrand is a Swede and his mother Smiljana Kokeza is a Croat from Split. Nystrand, a short course (25 m) specialist, has won five individu ...

of Sweden. El-Masri finished behind U.S. swimmer Ben Wildman-Tobriner in fourth place by 0.21 of a second with a time of 21.96 seconds. El-Masri recorded a tenth fastest time in the preliminary heats to advance further into the semifinals. The following morning, El-Masri fell short in his bid for the final, as he finished the semifinal run with a third slowest time of 22.09 seconds.

References

External links

NBC Olympics Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Masri, Rafed 1982 births Living people Syrian male swimmers Olympic swimmers for Germany Olympic swimmers for Syria Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2006 Asian Games Swimmers from Lower Saxony German people of Syrian descent German male freestyle swimmers Asian Games gold medalists for Syria Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games 21st-century German sportsmen 21st-century Syrian sportsmen Asian Games gold medalists in swimming