Mariam bin Laden becomes first Arab woman to swim from Saudi Arabia to Egypt

Doha: It was a dream come true moment for Saudi Arabian doctor Mariam Saleh bin Laden as she swam from Saudi to Egypt recently becoming the first Arab, first Saudi and first woman to do so. 

An endurance swimmer Dr Mariam swam across the Strait of Tiran for 9km describing it as, "some part of the swim was really nice, it was flat sea, lovely water while some part had the tide against me, big waves, we had to dig in to swim for so long, in this kind of condition."  

Dr Mariam joined in the first part of British swimmer Louis Pugh's journey, who is attempting to swim 160km of the Red Sea over two weeks to highlight the vulnerability of coral reefs ahead of the World Climate Conference in Egypt in November. 

Commenting on this, he tweeted that “Tomorrow, I will begin the first swim across the Red Sea, to deliver a message. Precious coral reefs are being destroyed by warming oceans. I am urging world leaders to take bold climate action”. Pugh is calling on governments to take action to significantly cut their greenhouse gas emissions and for 30% of world's oceans to be protected. 

A dentist by profession Dr Mariam, through her account on Instagram, published various photos of her trip across the Red Sea, and expressed her pride in being the first Saudi and Arab to swim from the Saudi to Egypt, as she adds, "I am so grateful to have been introduced to @lewis.pugh . When I heard about his plan to swim across the Red Sea , I had to take this opportunity to join him." 

She encourages others to come out of their comfort zone to become stronger as she writes, "I never thought I would do this swim without a shark cage . But putting ourselves out of our comfort zones is what makes us stronger."