The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Para swimmer finds new life in U.S.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA.—Afghan refugee Abbas Karimi may have been born without arms, but he’s setting the swimming world on fire with his heart.
Right now, the elite para swimmer, ranked sixth in the world, lives and trains in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Karimi, 24, fled his war-torn homeland at 16, leaving behind his family in Kabul to forge a new life.
“I wanted to show the world what I am made of, what I am capable of,” he told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Karimi has devised ways to swim the backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle and butterfly — but butterfly is his favorite.
“That’s the hardest,” he said. “That’s why I chose it. It’s very hard. I like to do hard things. If it’s easy, I leave it for someone else.”
Within the sport, Karimi is known for his discipline, his focus and his kindness, his coach Marty Hendrick said.
“He’s just good people,” said Hendrick, the Masters head coach for the Swim Fort Lauderdale program. “People just smile around him. And it’s not sympathy. He has this aura. People are drawn to him.”
That includes Debbie Rosenbaum, a paralegal and Masters swimmer who has taken Karimi under her wing, treating him like a son.
“She told me she was going to adopt me as her son,” Karimi said. “And I said, ‘OK, mom.’ She has really been like a mom. She is always there for me. I am very blessed to be surrounded by lovely people who have my back. I love her very much. And she loves me.”
Rosenbaum, who has a son and daughter of her own, calls Karimi her other son.
“He’s the love of my life,” she said. “He truly is an inspiration to all. He is wise beyond his years.”
Karimi, who turned 25 on Jan. 1, lost his father two years ago. It was heartbreaking, but Karimi says his Muslim faith and dream of a better life helped him carry on.
Those who know him say he likes to look ahead to the next challenge, the next goal, the next swim.
At peace in the water
It was in the water where Karimi found solace from childhood bullies who mocked him for being born without arms.
He took his first jump into a river at age 6 or 7, he says. Then at 13, he started swimming in a community pool his brother helped build, using a lifejacket to help stay afloat. A lifeguard took note of his natural talent and taught him the breaststroke. From there, he fell in love with the sport.
These days, Karimi has the mindset of an elite athlete, his coach says.
He sticks to a strict schedule that has him up before dawn and in bed by 8:30 p.m.
He trains four days a week at the gym and six days a week at the pool, sometimes twice a day. That means waking up at 2:30 a.m. to down some oatmeal, then it’s back to bed until 5 a.m. Then it’s off to swim practice starting at 6:45 a.m.
Karimi has won eight international medals so far, including silver in the 2017 World Para Swimming Championships held in Mexico City.
He competed in the 2020 Paralympic Games, held in Tokyo in 2021. A member of the International Paralympic Committee’s Refugee Paralympic Team, he competed in the 50-meter butterfly S5 event, where he qualified for the final and finished eighth overall — not as well as he expected.
Just as he was preparing to compete in the Paralympics in Tokyo, Kabul fell to the Taliban.
“That’s when his family became refugees. Kabul fell and his entire family had to flee,” Hendrick said. “Mother, siblings, nieces and nephews. They were trying to escape while we were in Tokyo. That crushed him. That’s the only time I ever saw him sweat. There was nothing he could do.”
Karimi’s family now lives in Pakistan. He has five brothers and four sisters. His youngest brother is living in Turkey as a refugee.
“I’m active on Instagram and Facebook and I talk to my family every day through Messenger or Whatsapp,” he said. “I miss them so much. It’s almost 10 years I’ve been away from them. I am doing my best to make them proud.”
Karimi says he hopes to bring his mother to the U.S. one day. He also hopes to get his citizenship by June so he can swim for the U.S. team.
But there is always heart behind what he does, says Karimi’s coach.
And in 2024, there is the Paralympics in Paris.
“I plan to compete,” Karimi says. “But there’s lots of competitions between then and now. I have to keep competing to get better and better. That’s how it works in sports.”