Champion

• Jemima Carmody, Grade 5, Holy Family Primary School
• Short Story
• 2016

Finalist in the 'Word Zone 2016' competition

She waited silently, absorbing the moment. This was her dream finally coming true. Yasra Mardini walked out onto the marshalling area and was immediately overwhelmed by the immense cheering of the crowd. The dazzling blue water, the children, men, women clutching their floppy straw hats, their vibrant flags, their cameras, their phones. It was all a blur of colour and noise.
The siren blared, yelling through the stadium. Yasra dived, her body ploughing through the water. She swam majestically, her arms moving in perfect sync. The deafening roar of the crowd was drowned out by the rushing of water.
She remembered everything. The cold water snaking down her body, the ongoing torturous sound of the waves lapping against the boat. Her body aching as she forced herself to continue. Her salty tears mingling with the ocean. She was leaving behind her beloved home land, ripped apart by conflict. She remembered the panic of the other 18 people when the motor stopped, the warm touch of her sister’s hand. When her and her sister realised they had no choice as the only refugees on the boat who could swim, by pushing the overloaded boat for three hours through the sea to the safety of Greece. The moment she dived off the boat into the freezing water, reality came flooding back.
As she felt her fingertips meet with the wall, she ripped of her goggles and cap and stared back down the pool where her opponents were gaining on the finish. A mixture of shock and happiness boiled up inside her like a rising wave. Her heart fluttered. She had won. From the waters of the Aegean, her Olympic dream had been born.