room she entered. 14-year-old alexander dreamed of becoming a uconn husky. the school posthumously accepted him as a music major. luke was 15 and obsessed with basketball. the miami heat has established a scholarship in his name. 15-year-old peter was a junior rotc member who died while helping classmates escape. the west point military academy has posthumously accepted him. he also received the medal of heroism. 16-year-old carmen was a national merit scholar semi-finalist. she also played guitar, violin and piano. 17-year-old nicholas was captain of the swim team. olympic gold medalist ryan lochte says he s dedicating his next olympic swims to him. 17-year-old joaquin had just become a naturalized american citizen. he loved sports and music. helena was also 17. she didn t think about her own safety but rather turned to help her friend, samantha instead.
it was a lot of people swimming, trying to save the kids. they try to reach a safe place. it s pretty hard. it s pretty hard. what she told me, too, families, you know, trying to get family in safe place, but they couldn t make it. so, they, they were they were swims in the water, they had to leave the family in the boat. they don t know. see people dying that way is real sad. real sad. reporter: isaac thank you so much for sharing your story. your english was perfect. thank you for sharing that. pamela, back to you. wow. what a heart wrenching interview to see the emotion when his family has seen witness through this. thank you so much. i want to go to cnn meteorologist chad myers at the
open-water swimmer in cape town, south africa. i feel free when i m in the ocean. that s where i m at peace most of the time. it takes you away from the outside world. reporter: the outside world hasn t been easy for arafat. he s a refugee from the democratic republic of congo. i left my country in 2012 when they were broke up, when i got separated from my mother. reporter: unsure if his mother was dead or alive, he fled to cape town on foot and ended up living in this children s shelter, which offers swimming classes. i remember the first time i went in the swimming pool, it was like you were in a new planet. i realized swimming was something which i could use for the process of healing. then i kept doing it. reporter: swimming gave arafat a new sense of purpose, and he began training for long-distance swims. in 2016, he was named open-water swimmer of the year by the cape town long-distance swimming association. the moment i stop, that s
swimming pool, it was a new planet. it was something i can use for the process of healing. i kept on doing it. swimming gave him a new sense of purpose. he began training for long distance swims. in 2016, he was named open water swimmer of the year by the cape town long distance association. that s when i feel life is becoming a mess, my focus, giving me as much hope as i can and challenging me. his next challenge is a two and a half kilometers swim called the high-tech walker bay extreme. [ cheers ] i don t compete with anyone when i am swimming. i just compete with myself. what makes the race so challenging is not the distance but the frigid 55 degrees temperature. he does it without a wet suit. it is a mental game, your
of purpose and he began training for long-distance swims. in 2015 he was named open water swimming of the year by the cape town long distance swimming association. the moment i start i feel like life is becoming like a mess, my main focus is to keep as much focus as i can. okay guys watch out. his next challenge is a 2.5 clom per swim called the high tech bayer walker stream. i don t compete with anyone when i m swimming, i just compete with myself. what makes the race so channelling isn t the distance by the 55-degree water temperature. and he does it without a wet suit. it s a very mental game. you body doesn t want to stay in, but your mine controls your body saying you can keep going. the cold water proved too