shark when participating in a lifeguard training
session at Sunrise Beach in Muizenberg
in 2006. Achmat deliberately attracted the
shark's attention away from his brother when
he saw that it was honing in on him, in his
successful attempt to save the life of his
brother he lost his leg in what he says as a
small price to pay for his brother's life.
walk with a prosthetic leg, and has competed
in the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games,
2010 IPC World Swimming Championships
in the Netherlands and the 2012 London
Paralympics.
and consider myself a positive, go-getter who
simply wants to live every day to the fullest,"
Achmat tells us. But for a real look into the
man Achmat says we need to understand
his family, which is made up of a close-knit
group who all draw from the same attributes.
"My mom is all about sports and pushing us
to do the best we can where my dad is laid
back and always tells us we must just try our
hardest, my brother on the other hand is a bit
of both."
humble at all times and courteous to others,
striving to be the quintessential nice guy.
time. If I wasn't there anything could have
happened to my brother and losing my leg
would be nothing compared to the loss of
losing the life of my brother now I look at
the rewards that have been given as a result
of losing my leg and I know it is important to
use my personality to make the most of every
day," says Achmat.
bodied I can say nothing has changed, I still
play cricket and soccer with the community in
the streets at night and carry on as I used to.
Life has graced me and God has graced me,
and the opportunities to represent my country
as a result of the position I am are simply
amazing," he adds.
and wish that he could represent his country;
today he is the captain of the Western
Province swimming team and has fulfilled
his dream of representing his country and
donning the green and gold.
London with a medal and all of this is because
of a shark attack and a positive attitude. The
way I see it, it is my dream to inspire people,
yes a 4,5m Great White attacked me but I still
go out there and am positive in all that I do,"
he says. "People think that it is impossible to
change the world. But nothing is impossible,
possible is you and I."
they don't stay in a fancy home or drive fancy
cars, but what they do have is each other.
"What we have now over and above all of this
is a Paralympic medal!" he remarks.
to me. In Beijing I came 9th and I was so
disappointed that I couldn't make the final,
London I just wanted to make the final and
found myself 5th so I adjusted my goal and
said I wanted to get a medal.
home for South Africa. I dove in and swam
my heart out on the second lap I thought to
myself what would Chad le Clos say now, so
I put my head down and swam faster. When I
touched the wall and looked at the block and
I saw it was lit up it was one of the greatest
moments of my life. Next year I have the world
championships in Canada and the way I see
it is that I am just a second away from being a
world record holder," says Achmat.
was sitting on his bed staring at his medal
hard work and sacrifices have finally paid off.
well and bring home another medal for South
Africa. My smaller goals are to get back into
the pool and get fit and train and repeat the
cycle. People ask me how do you motivate
yourself to get into the pool at 4:30am and
spend five hours a day training? You have
to set yourself smaller goals and believe in
yourself and believe you can meet those
goals, once you have met those goals you can
do it all again, he adds.
dreams were gone and he told me not to give
up and to look at Oscar Pistorius and Nathalie
DuToit as now I was no different to them, he
told me to look at what they have done and
motivate myself from there, and I did."
life is what he sees as his greatest asset
and this is what makes him tick. Today as
a motivational speaker alongside being a
swimmer he says people often approach him
and tell him his story has inspired them and
this is what motivates him. "When I realise
I can change people's lives it drives me to
carry on."
at how she handles life. She wakes up at
4:30am making sure I am ready for the day,
my dad doesn't work and she is the Deputy
Principal at a primary school in Mitchells Plain,
and she keeps our entire ship afloat. To do all
of this and then still come back at the end of
the day full of hugs and love for her family is
truly amazing and she inspires me to want to
be the same."
championships in 2012, winning eight gold
medals of the eight events he had entered
and setting six new all African records and
he is currently the world champion for 200m
butterfly. He conquered his fear of going back
into the seas when he completed the 7.5km
Cadiz Robben Island cold-water swim in 2010
and 2011. He also received the Bravery Award
from Prince Michael of Kent on behalf of the
Royal Lifesaving Society.
impact on the people around me and try
and use means like my Twitter account
@achmathassiem to touch the lives of
others and to make a difference," he ends.