Hello,my name is Salma Shannak, and I would like to share my story. Once I was a girl who was addicted….To swimming but then I fell. Swimming was and is my world I would wake up and the first thought that would come to my void is “What's training today?” or “I can't wait to go to the pool! I have been swimming since I was 4 and at first I hated it, my coach told my mother “ this girl has amazing potential!!” i owe that coach, he is my mentor and my best friend until today, as the sane parent would She forced me to stick to swimming until it wasn't forced. I was in love, the feel of the water, the smell of the chlorine was the only thing that I needed. A person doesn't know what hard work is until they meet me, I would Put all the energy i contained into the mids of that set. Until i couldn't. I was training and all of a sudden… the weird feeling of air going through my heart in the wrong way possesd every bit of me. I started panting and crying from pain and horror. When I let my mom and coach know they thought I was being dramatic or that I just didn't want to put in the work. By the way this happened back in 2019…that pain started to come more often and I would stay quiet since I wasn't being heard. Fast forward 4 years later, I got my dream, the National team. Everything was great until I had my check-up by the national team and that is when my whole world just fell apart. I wasn't allowed to train until I got 3 doctors approval, and when I heard what the doctor said I honestly can't describe it to you. He said that I had not one but two atrial septal defect (ASD) — sometimes called a hole in the heart which is a type of congenital heart defect in which there is an abnormal opening in the dividing wall between the upper filling chambers of the heart. So yeah I had two holes in my heart since I was born and they found out 12 and a half years later. The first doctor I went to said that I would have to have open heart surgery and would have to stop training at full intensity for at least until we do the surgery. I didn't go with that I started sobbing in front of my brother my dad and the doctor. My dad told me after That it wasn't the end of the world but he didn't get it.swimming was what kept me going. Whenever I swim that was it the lights go off and my mind wanders into a different world. When We went to the second doctor. Dr.Layla Tutanji emotionally and physically she brought hope back into my life. She said that she could contact her head doctor who works at the Jordan University of Medicine, Dr. Eyyad al Aamouri and He said that it can be easily closed using a cath which is like an umbrella that opens into the wall of my heart and closes the ASD. so it was done I was set to do my surgery at the end of June and then July would be no swimming or just getting my heart rate high in general. I broke my leg and had to wait 3 more months until I finally did my surgery when the dreaded Day came i kept on thinking “What if this doesn't work ?” what if i will always be held back? The doctor told Me to stop thinking like that and to just have hope in him. When it was over i felt relived i finally got cured,my life was back. Fast forward 2 months i went back to the National team and my coaches kept on doubting me, always putting me in team B and thought that i am not up to it. I decided to go the one of the best coaches in Jordan and train with him, who believed in me helped me and supported me in all ways, mentally, phisycally and emotionally. 4 months since my surgery my comeback was amazing. Every swimmer and coach in Jordan kewn… Salma Shannak is finally back. In December 2023 a record that has stood since 2016 fell. I finally broke a Jordanian age record in the 200 back with a time of 2:45:58 and became Jordan's national champion in the 100 and 200 back. So the message that I would like to share is that never give up, believe in yourself, pain is worth it and sometimes the hardest road leads to the brightest future.