A documentary charting the incredible story of shipwreck survivor and IRONMAN champion Els Visser has given a remarkable insight into the Dutch superstar’s life as a professional athlete – and the harrowing night when she feared her life was over.
‘Resilience’ follows the 35-year-old’s bid for glory at the 2023 World Championship, with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews chronicling her journey from qualifying at the IM Western Australia, through to competing in the big race in Kona.
But this is more than just a sporting story. This is a tale of unimaginable, death-defying acts of heroism that not only saved her life, but which also set her on a career path that she never once imagined would be possible.
It was in August 2014 that Els, a medical student who was coming to the end of an internship in Bali, decided to take advantage of her newly-acquired diving certificates and arranged to join 19 other backpackers on a boat trip from Lombok Island across the Flores Sea.
Battered by huge waves
Their destination was Komodo Island, but the boat and its frightened passengers and crew never made it. Instead, having hit the reef and been battered by huge waves, the vessel started sinking.
The events that followed would ultimately change her life forever as she took the brave decision to leave the sinking ship and its six-man lifeboat, and attempt to try and swim to an island that was visible in the distance.
With her passport in her money belt – so that authorities could identify her if she died – Els set off with a small group of passengers, swimming backstroke for eight hours as they kicked and splashed for their very lives.
Before eventually being rescued from the volcanic island of Sangeang Api the next day, Els and her colleagues were forced to drink their own urine as they struggled to find freshwater outlets on the rocky, uninhabited piece of land.
Writing on her Instagram account as the new Red Bull film was streamed for the first time online, Els said: “This is an incredibly special moment for me, it’s there, my documentary Resilience. A documentary that’s more than just a film. It’s a personal story. My story. And at the same time, I hope, a story that reaches beyond myself.
‘That night, everything changed’
“Ten years ago, I was on a boat in Indonesia. It should have been a normal journey, an adventurous stopover in my life. But that night, everything changed. The boat sank. I ended up in the middle of the sea, in the dark, wondering if I would ever reach shore. It was a struggle for survival, with waves, fear, exhaustion – but above all, with myself.
“That moment, those days, changed my life forever. I discovered a strength within me that I hadn’t known existed. A resilience that pulled me through the water, through fear, towards life. And when I returned to land, I realised: ‘If I survived this, I can do so much more’.
“That realisation set me on a path I’d never dared to dream of. The path to triathlon. To the world of elite sports. To a life where I would challenge myself again and again, sometimes fail miserably, but also experience what it means to push boundaries.”
As she returns to the island in the documentary, she admits that the events of those two days in Indonesia will ‘always be there as a part of her heart’ and that by embracing it she has become a stronger person.
On the path to glory
Indeed, just four years after the shipwreck and one year after taking up the sport, she won her first IRONMAN title on her home course in Maastricht, and has never looked back since.
“The documentary captures that journey. Not just the physical – the training, the competitions, the medals,” she says. “But especially the inner journey. The search for balance, dealing with setbacks, and choosing again and again to keep going.
“Resilience, at its core, is about something we all recognize. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a triathlete or not, whether you’ve experienced a shipwreck or some other kind of storm in your life. Everyone has moments when you think: ‘I can’t do this’. Everyone has situations where you’re challenged to the core. And it’s precisely then that you discover just how strong you can be.
“What I hope is that this film shows that resilience isn’t an exceptional quality, but something we all carry within us. Sometimes hidden, sometimes forgotten, but always present.”
You can watch the full documentary by clicking this link HERE.
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