Dream Fulfilled: How Alon Mandel Pushed Through Grief to Achieve his Father's Dream

Alon Mandel at the Beijing OlmypicsSomething inspiring happened at the Water Cube at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and it had nothing to do with Michael Phelps. In a men's 200 meter butterfly preliminary heat, Israeli swimmer Alon Mandel stepped up to the blocks, blocked out all distractions, focused all his energy, and dove into the water. He proceeded to swim faster than any Israeli had ever swam the 200 meter butterfly. What's inspiring is that Mandel, a junior at the University of Michigan, did it with a heavy heart. His father, Kostya, passed away just two days before the opening ceremony.
Like most Olympic stories, this one doesn't start and end in Beijing. This story begins at a pool in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It's here, as a student and varsity swimmer on the Michigan swim team that Mandel's Olympics dreams started to take shape. Following in the footsteps of his sister, who swam at Michigan from 2000-2004, Mandel came to Michigan in 2006 and started to see immediate improvement in his swimming.

He became a 2008 NCAA All-American, a 2008 Big Ten Champion, and was named first team All Big Ten. Through all these accomplishments, Mandel and his family began to believe that a trip to Beijing was a real possibility.

"When you enter the pool at Michigan, you see the Hall of Fame and all the student athletes at Michigan that represented their country in the Olympics. They have the flag of their country and their name, and I said to my parents, ‘Why isn't there anyone from Israel?' and my sister told me, ‘Well, you can be the first one,'" Mandel said.

Mandel's dream appeared to be cut short in March when he finished 13th in his qualifying meet where the top 12 swimmers make the cut. He was .02 seconds short. But then, Mandel got a glimmer of hope. A swimmer from the Greek National team had tested positive for steroids, and Mandel would replace him in Beijing. The Greek swimming federation didn't make it easy however, tying the case up in what Mandel called "a battle in bureaucracy." Mandel left for Spain to train with the Israeli national team while his father tried to prove that the Greek swimmer was dirty. "My dad played a great part in me getting to the Olympics. He was at home trying to prove that the Greek did drugs and he pulled all his strings," Mandel said.

Mandel got the news that he had officially made the team while training in Spain.

"Of course I was really happy, it was a great relief. My only console is that my dad got to see me making the Olympic team and not have it be uncertain. My dad's dream was that I would fulfill my dreams. His dream was me competing in Beijing."

The phone call came at three in the morning. It was his mother. Mandel's father had fallen off of a ladder while doing work outside their Netanya house and passed away. The man who had fought so hard for Mandel to get to Beijing was suddenly gone.

The rest of the night was a heavy mix of grief, pain and confusion. "I managed to sleep another three hours but the sleep didn't take away the pain" Mandel said in an interview with the Jerusalem Post. But in between that phone call and daylight, Mandel found strength and made the decision to stay.

"If people had known my dad then they would have known I made the right decision, because it was a lifetime dream for me. And once I got the phone call from my mom, she told me she wanted me to stay in Beijing. From that moment on it was an easy decision."

Mandel drew on the inspiration and support he received from his friends from Michigan, and summoned the strength to step out onto the blocks for his preliminary race, just as his father would have wanted.

"I didn't only represent Israel in the Olympics, I represented the rest of Michigan. I was the only representative from varsity swim team, and that was a big excitement among my friends, and I could not let them down. They were in my thoughts. They reminded me what my purpose was," Mandel said.

Once the race started, Mandel focused solely on swimming.

"I think when I jumped from the blocks, what happened to me, to my dad, did not affect me at all. I was just completely focused in the race. I had really mixed feelings but I tried to put them aside and stay focused"

When Mandel emerged from the water after his race, he was the fastest Israeli to ever swim the 200 meter butterfly, doing so with a time of 1:59.27, good for 4th place in his heat.

"It was a great moment for all the family, great happiness," Mandel said.

Now, Mandel is back where the story started, at Michigan, focusing on swimming for the Wolverines. His goal is to compete in the 2012 Olympics in London, but until then, he'll continue training at Michigan.

"Swimming for Michigan means a lot more than competing in the Olympics," said Mandel.

However, there is one huge difference for Mandel this season.

"It's weird because I'm not talking to my dad. "By losing him, I lost my biggest supporter."