Dadaon comes out swimming for Israel

When Israeli multi-gold medallist Ami Dadaon began swimming as part of his physical therapy for cerebral palsy, he didn’t imagine that it would lead him to being a swimming star in a similar league to Michael Phelps and Mark Spitz.

“At first, I hated swimming, it was hard for me to catch up with the movements,” he told the SA Jewish Report on a visit to South Africa this week. “But I saw the Israeli national team and wanted to be just like them, so I started to train seriously and I turned a habit into a profession.”

Dadaon and his twin sister, Liem, were brough to South Africa by the Israel Centre and the South African Zionist Federation to visit Jewish schools not only to tell his story, but to show youth that life in Israel isn’t only about war, good things are happening. They also want to share that Israelis are achieving amazing things on the global stage despite the war.

Before arriving in South Africa, Dadaon had no idea that South Africa had such a vibrant Jewish community. “When I got the invitation and saw what kind of community there is here, I jumped at the chance to show everyone the face of Israel as I see it. I wanted to show them that Israel isn’t only [about] war. Instead, we have culture, sport, we have a lot of things that we excel at despite the war.”

Though his swimming has taken him around the world, he said he received the warmest welcome from the South African Jewish community. “It was a great opportunity for me to speak and meet this great, warm community that’s often forgotten,” he said. “When I was at the schools, all the kids wanted me to give them autographs.”

Born prematurely at 29 weeks with cerebral palsy, Dadaon’s parents enrolled him in swimming for rehabilitation therapy at the Israel Association for Children with Disabilities when he was just three years old. Although he hated it at first, his trainers recognised that he had an aptitude for the sport and the potential to represent Israel on the global stage.

He won four medals at the Paris Paralympics; three medals at the Tokyo Paralympics; seven gold medals at the World Championships in 2022 and 2023; and nine gold medals at the European Championships between 2018 and 2024.

Dadaon told students at Jewish schools across Johannesburg that failure could sometimes be the first step to achieving something great. He said that at his first Paralympics event, he was actually disqualified in the first heat, but went on to set the world record in 200m freestyle at the Tokyo Paralympic Games.

At the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris, Dadaon won gold in the 100m freestyle S4 event, where he established a new Paralympic record in the heats. He also won a gold medal in the 200m freestyle S4 event; a silver medal in the 150m individual medley SM4; and a bronze medal in the 50m freestyle S4.

For Dadaon, being able to compete as an Israeli athlete in Paris in 2024 while Israel was fighting a war was something that he will never forget, “I know there’s a lot of hate for us, but in Paris, I only got love,” he said.

“I was excited to be able to swim and represent my country in Paris while Israel was at war,” he said, “It was stressful, but to represent Israel and have 16 000 people come and stand up for our national anthem is the greatest feeling an athlete can have. I got a lot of love and recognition, and to represent a country on such terms makes you feel a sense of accomplishing a mission.”

“When I’m in the water, I don’t think about anything, only the race. But now I know that I will sing Hatikvah at this time. That’s all I want — to represent the people of Israel in this period and give them hope,” he said.

Dadaon said standing on the winning podium and hearing Hatikvah blaring through the speakers while his fellow citizens were at war was something he couldn’t describe.

“I was crying like a baby singing Hatikvah. There were big emotions. Because for five minutes, I’m the face of Israel, and I told myself, ‘I’m going to swim as fast as I can so I can do the best for my country.’”

He was weighed down by all the news coming out of Israel while he was in Paris competing for his country. He won his silver medal in the 150m individual medley following the news that six hostages had been murdered in Gaza.

“It wasn’t an easy day for the people of Israel,” he said. “It affected me, he said, expressing condolences to those whose family members were killed. We’re fighting on so many different fronts, but, at least on my front, I hope I succeeded.”

After his gold medals, Dadaon received countless messages from injured soldiers and those on the front line thanking him for representing them, which meant the world to him.

He has also heard from parents whose children are just like him, who told him that he showed their children that “to be disabled isn’t the end of life, it’s only the beginning, and now they have hope for their kids”.

Dadaon wants to continue swimming as “I like to compete. I love it, actually. Competing is my life. I like representing Israel. Swimming takes so much, but I hope that I will be at the next Paralympic games.”