When Azad Al-Barazi first swam for his parents' home country of Syria in the 2012 Olympics—just months after the country's civil war broke out—he believed then Syria was hitting rock bottom, and would soon bounce back.
 
"The whole country needs a lift, and it's going to happen, but it's a matter of time," he told Sports Illustrated as he headed to the 2012 London Games. "You've got to hit rock bottom to climb back up, and that's where we are right now. We're hitting rock bottom."
 
Al-Barazi will once again swim the 100-meter Breaststroke for Syria in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This time, it's clear that the conflict in Syria is far worse than he initially thought.
 
When Al-Barazi graduated from Hawai'i in 2010 he was the fifth-fastest swimmer in the 100 Breast in Conference USA. Since then, he has worked tirelessly for the opportunity to compete against the world's best. But this Olympic Games means more than personal achievement for Al-Barazi. It's about giving the civilians, refugees and families from Syria who have suffered throughout the war something positive to cheer for. Even if it's only for a minute—or better, 59.99 seconds.
 
"This one means a little more than the last one with what's going on in Syria," Al-Barazi said before reporting to Rio for the 2016 Games. "It definitely just fuels the fire for me to swim fast and represent the people of Syria and all the refugees who are fleeing the country."
 
Fueling his fire is just one way the Syrian civil war affected the former Rainbow Warrior's training for the Rio Olympics. With Syria's resources tied up in the war, the funding Al-Barazi enjoyed in preparation for the 2012 Games was cut off after he competed in London.
 
The vast majority of Olympic athletes benefit from federal or private funding, or both, to help cover the costs of competing at a world-class level. For example, Canada's Olympic funding program 'Own The Podium'—whose largest contributor is the Canadian government—contributed $3,670,000 (CAD) to swimming alone for fiscal year 2016-17, and nearly $30 million (CAD) for its summer Olympic sports overall. This funding helps provide strength and conditioning, nutrition and sports psychology programs, as well as sports medical support and supplemental income to allow time for training and travel expenses associated with competing all around the world, among other things.
 
After experiencing the thrill of participating in the 2012 Olympic Games, and with no federal funding to help qualify for Rio, Al-Barazi could have easily foregone a run at another Olympics. But instead of throwing in the towel, he turned to the so-called "LA hustle" to pursue swimming for Syria on the world's biggest stage one more time.
 
"After 2012, Syria stopped funding me because they didn't have the funds to support me, and I don't blame them," Al-Barazi said. "Wherever I can make money, I'm there. I work as a lifeguard on the beach. I'm teaching swim lessons, teaching surf lessons, making surfboards, fixing surfboards, doing photo-shoots or commercials—I live in LA so there's a big market for that—I call it the LA hustle."
 
When he's not earning money to cover his living and training expenses, Al-Barazi is preparing for Rio with Coach Dave Salo and the Trojan Swim Club, an elite club of world-class swimmers based out of USC.
 
"Azad is the profile of an athlete any coach hopes to work with," Salo said. "Hard working, committed, always looking to improve himself, especially in the face of adverse barriers to performance. He has not let the late start in his sporting career sidetrack from reaching his potential."
 
When he began swimming with Trojan, Al-Barazi said he felt like a little fish in a big pond. That's understandable when four-time Olympic gold medalist Kosuke Kitajima is training in the lane next to you. Now, he attributes much of his progress to the club's competitive environment.
 
"Training with all the Olympic athletes that Coach Dave has is unreal. When you're in the water with high-level athletes, you're going to feed off of them and you're going to excel," Al-Barazi says. "You're going to either pass them or catch them. Training at Trojan is a dream for any swimmer. Coach Dave is a very well-known coach worldwide. He got me to where I am, I couldn't do it without him."
 
Just as he is not shy about sharing his motivation for getting to Rio, Al-Barazi is equally open about discussing his goals once he gets there. They're quite simple, actually.
 
"Hypothetically speaking, if I swim 59.99 and finish dead last, I'm satisfied," he said, knowing full well that a sub-minute time will all but guarantee a spot in the semifinals, and potentially the final. "I'm setting up to go 59.99 or better and make the finals, and that will make history for Syria. I'm trying to make history."

Regardless of where he finishes in Rio, Salo made sure to point out that Al-Barazi has already defied many odds by making not just one, but two Olympic Games.
 
"While I know he wants more than a side note as an Olympic participant, if he achieves nothing more than that he has taken a tough path to be one of the few, especially Syrian, to be noted as such," Salo said.
 
Maybe this time around Syria really is at rock bottom, and maybe Al-Barazi can be part of the rally to bounce back. Regardless of what happens with the conflict, he will give the people of Syria something to root for. Even if it's only for 59.99 seconds.