By Ghalia Taman

In a mere four hours, Saudi swimmer, Mariam Binladen, not only had to face the long journey of swimming an entire 9km in the open sea, but she also had to do it while knowing that there are sharks looming beneath the water. In spite of this, she swam and created history as the first Arab woman to cross the Red Sea.

Her record was not the only reason her swim garnered celebration. During her journey, the swimmer faced technical difficulties that posed a risk to her life. She used a device that would keep sharks away by three meters but events took a scary turn when the device malfunctioned, exposing the swimmer to a potential shark attack. Thankfully, she completed her journey and made history as the first Arab woman to swim across the Red Sea.

The arduous swim was not completed to merely break records. During the swim, Binalden was joined by endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh who took to Twitter to share the bigger message behind the lengthy swim:

Throughout all her strides, Binladen always has a bigger goal in mind. Let’s get to know the story behind the swimmer and the driving force behind all her pursuits.

Who Is Mariam Binladen?

Binladen is not only making waves in the water, but her accomplishments also extend to other prominent fields. The 32-year-old swimmer began her career as a dentist having received a master’s in dentistry but her true passion lies in her attempts at making the world a better place. So far, she has devoted her life to supporting Syrian refugees, starting her journey in 2015, a time when the Syrian crisis began to grow and escalate. Binladen wanted to shed light on the growing crisis as at that time its magnitude was still not known to people around the world.

In 2016, she merged her career in dentistry and her passion for refugees by opening her first dental center that provides free dental and oral care at Al Azraq Refugee camp in Jordan, which is home to more than 550,000 refugees. Binladen also leverages her swimming career as a sound piece for the cause. In the same year, she was the first Khaleej woman to be able to cross the English Channel in just 11 minutes and 41 seconds. That particular swim was part of several endurance challenges in an effort to raise awareness for the Syrian crisis.

Other firsts for Binladen include her 2017 accomplishment of being the first swimmer to cross Dubai Creek and setting a world record by swimming a distance of 24 km across the channel. The Saudi swimmer is someone who defies expectations and does not let fear stand in the way of achieving her goals.