Ziyad Saleem has Olympic level goals for his swimming career
MILWAUKEE (BVM) — Ziyad Saleem has come a long way in his swimming career from his first swim lessons when he was three years old.
The Rufus King senior has broken multiple club swimming records as well as won both club and WIAA state championships. However, now Saleem is turning his focus to some international goals.
Saleem hopes to represent Sudan this summer in the 100 and 200 backstroke. All that is left to do is reach the qualifying times.
“I’m really confident I’ll be able to get it,” Saleem said.
Saleem is currently posting times of 55.54 seconds in the 100 backstroke and 2:01.30 in the 200 backstroke. To qualify for the Olympics, he’ll have to drop his 100 time by 0.07 seconds and his 200 time by 0.29 seconds.
His confidence comes from the fact that he has always approached his swimming goals the same way.
“When I was younger it was focusing on having fun with the sport and getting better,” Saleem said. “I think that led me to success in swimming, having fun and dropping time has led me to where I am at.”
From the beginning, Saleem has always loved to swim. As a three-year-old taking his first swimming lessons, he quickly showed an affinity for the water, rising through the ranks right away. From there, it was suggested to Saleem and his parents that he join the Schroeder YMCA swim team when he was six.
“Since then, I’ve always enjoyed the water,” Saleem said. “From six onward I’ve always really loved it.”
In 2017, he took second in the 100 backstroke at the Wisconsin YMCA state championship. Saleem also finished first in the 200 back and second in the 100 back at the Wisconsin Swimming 13 & Over Long Course State Championship.
By his sophomore summer, Saleem began to get recruited from multiple schools across the country. With his recruitment, Saleem began to think about what he wanted out of his collegiate swimming career and what kind of swimming program he wanted to join.
“I wanted to go to a place where I go in and I’m not the fastest guy there so I’m working to become better. Also a place where I can achieve my goals swimming wise,” Saleem said.
Those goals included reaching the Olympics and medaling at college nationals. Another important part of the decision process was finding a school that would set him up for success once his swimming career was over.
Saleem found all of that at the University of Iowa and was committed to attending college there. Unfortunately, earlier this year, Iowa announced that it would be canceling the swimming program as part of budget cuts due to COVID-19.
“At first it was hard to hear, but I’ve been able to develop in the months since I’ve committed which has opened up a lot of doors which weren’t possible earlier in my recruitment,” Saleem said.
Saleem has continued to stay positive and is even going to take a gap year after he graduates high school this spring. Saleem says he is not in a rush to find a new university to attend and is going to take his time in finding a new program to swim for.
Through it all, Saleem has always focused on staying positive and having fun. His love for the sport has gotten him through any hurdles he’s had to face in his career. It keeps him coming back every day trying to get better.
The records and wins have all been nice, but Saleem has never focused on that. Winning is not what motivates him.
“Having fun and trying to improve every day and by doing that the time has come along with it,” Saleem said.
It has allowed him to shave more than four seconds and two seconds off his 200 back and 100 back times, respectively, in a year. Now it’s going to propel him to the Olympics.
