Inspired to learn how to swim after the drowning of an international student, TU Delft Mobility Officer Ismail Yetim didn’t stop there. An avid runner, he now does triathlons and is training for the brutal Ironman competition.
“I was running near the lake here in Delft a few years ago, and I saw some of my students, and they said they needed my help. It seems one of our students died in the water because he couldn’t swim. For me it was kind of a trigger because I was not able to swim either. I thought I had to do something about it, and in 2015 I started swimming lessons. It was just like a kid, you started by just feeling the water and being in the small swimming pool.
Marathon
We started with one teacher, and in one year we had like 3 or 4 teachers and more than 25 students, from many different countries. I got my A, B and C diploma. I was already running marathons, but then I saw something about a triathlon. Of course, living here in the Netherlands, everyone knows how to cycle. I searched on the internet, and I found the swimming society of TU Delft, called DSZ Wave. For three years now, I’ve been training with them, and three times a week I’m in the pool for an hour. It’s very hard, very intensive. We also have a running group, and we cycle each Saturday.
Ironman triathlon
I started from zero, and I’m now halfway to my goal. I need to improve my swimming skills a little more, but in a couple of years I plan to do the Ironman triathlon. I am working towards that. I spend a lot of time at the gym, swimming and running.
I also try to inspire others I work with. The work we do here is sitting behind a computer, but now after work, I go with some of my colleagues for a Campus run, maybe four to five km twice a week.
Running group for international students
And I work with a lot of international students that come here and feel very lonely in the beginning, so in 2011 I started a running group for international students. We met once a week to run 5, 10 or 15 km, and I think it helped bring people together, to know they are not alone. You can easily talk while doing sports. And if you can talk during running, it means you are in really good condition.”
Heather Montague / Freelance writer
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