Mahamadou Dambelleh: "Being the son of a black, Muslim, and divorced woman, he had few options for success."

Sant Cugat del VallésAt 19, Mahamadou Dambelleh has just been crowned world swimming runner-up in the 50-meter freestyle at the World Paralympic Championships in Singapore. Born in Gambia, he arrived in Olot, his hometown, at seven months old, though he discovered swimming at the Club Natació de Castellfollit de la Roca, where he began a journey that has led him to the World Championships in Singapore. Dambelleh, who lost almost all his sight at the age of ten, speaks to ARA at the High-Performance Center in Sant Cugat del Vallès, where he trains.

You've won a medal at a World Championship. You've been received at the City Hall, honored... How are you experiencing it all?

— It's beautiful. Especially when I think about my mother. If you stop to think about it, my situation didn't have many chances of becoming a reality. I'm the son of a Black, Muslim, divorced immigrant woman. And I'm the oldest of four siblings. My mother rarely saw me compete because she was always working. Doing overtime, doing more than one job. She always worried about me, she wanted me to do what I love. Mom and my siblings have always helped and supported me.

Were you born blind?

— I was born with a hereditary visual impairment that affects the retina, retinitis pigmentosa. I was born seeing less than others, but I could see. And as you grow up, you lose vision. Now I see light and shadows, nothing more.

How did you experience winning a silver medal at the World Championships? What was that moment like?

— Incredible, because it was only my second World Championship. The first was when I was seventeen, and this one I was competing at just twenty. And what's more, I won the medal in the first event of the season, the one I'd trained for the most. I expected to do well, but the medal was unexpected. When I finished, Jaume, my coach, told me I'd come in second twice. The first time, while I was in the water, I didn't hear him. And then, when I was out of the water, I was speechless; I didn't know how to react.

What were your aspirations for going to Singapore?

— It was my first season at the High-Performance Center: with new coaches and reaching the 50-meter final, I would have been happy. It's true that I was improving my times throughout the season, and in June, at a competition in Berlin, I finished first. In Singapore, I wanted to do my best, but after the semifinals, people were telling me I was going to win a medal. And I told them no, that my rivals had just come from the Paralympic Games in Paris. But I got my hopes up, and look... it went well.

Did you feel more responsibility because you were on a scholarship at the CAR for the first time?

— I've always felt that responsibility because nothing in my life has been easy. I come from an immigrant family where things weren't very good financially. That responsibility has always been there because I've always found people who have helped me and given me the tools to keep going. Pere, my coach in Castellfollit, always told me that once I was at the High-Performance Center, the results would come. I always give it my all when I compete.

You compete in an event like the 50-meter freestyle. The fastest. How do you experience it? What goes through your mind during those few seconds?

— Well, I never stop thinking. I have it very structured. It's very fast-paced, and you have to think very fast, but at every moment I'm thinking about what I'm doing. The moment I jump, I'm thinking about jumping; the moment I enter the water, I'm thinking about how I enter the water, then about gliding, then about kicking... It's hard to stay focused. It's a short time, and the movements are quick, but that's the challenge.

Tell us how you discovered the world of swimming. You're from Olot, but you compete with the Castellfollit de la Roca club...

— I used to go to the Garbuix after-school program with other kids from low-income families. We did outdoor swimming as part of our extracurricular activities. A summer camp was set up in Castellfollit, they took us to the pool, and look where we are now. I was ten years old. That's where I met Per Vilà, who's the president and coach, and he told us that anyone who wanted to swim would have the opportunity. And I wanted to. Before that, I'd done athletics, which was different: you compete with a guide by your side. In the water, you swim alone. My mother worried, which is normal. If you have a child with a disability, it's normal to protect them. But I could see that I was happy and I was doing well.

Do you think people are aware of how they can help people with disabilities through sport?

— No, he's not aware of it. People don't know how much it helps, not only for physical health, but also for mental health and the ability to connect with others. It also helps to normalize disability. Because in my case, I trained with able-bodied people, and I think it was good for them to learn how to interact with someone with a disability. He thinks my medal is the result of ten years of work. Years ago, I was training four days a week in three different pools, since my club didn't have an indoor pool. I was cold, I bumped into other people (there were five or six of us in the same lane at the Sant Pere de Torelló pool)... and suddenly, I was at the World Championships. In Singapore, a 12-hour flight away, where I'm not even sure what language they speak. It was wonderful to arrive knowing where I came from.

Are you determined to reach the Los Angeles Paralympic Games in 2028?

— This is the idea. But there's still a long way to go. One step at a time.

Compete, train, and study.

— I'm currently living at the High-Performance Center (CAR): I train, eat, and sleep here. I'm also doing a higher-level vocational course in social integration, partly online and partly in person in Terrassa. A swimmer's career is short, so it's important to think about the future, although I'm still not entirely sure what I'll do. I do know, however, that I enjoy everything related to social work.

You have said that you want to be the first black and blind president of the Generalitat.

— Yes, yes... (smiles). I do have that dream. But first I have to focus on swimming and finish my studies. The idea of becoming president started as a joke with my friends when I was little. But it was also a joke that I'd go to the World Championships, and it came true, so who knows what the future holds with politics.