Antwerp, February: 58.45 seconds
Anis swam nine times a week, often six miles a day. In France, Olympians train at a dedicated centre, with physiotherapists and psycho- logists on hand; Anis swam in a roped-off lane at a public swimming pool.
The children splashing about in the shallow end had no idea that they were sharing the water with a prospective Olympian.
By now, Anis was spending 17 hours a week in the water. And it hurt. ‘If you want to gain muscles, you have to tear them,’ Verbauwen liked to say. If anyone touched him, he would recoil.
‘I feel like my heart is going to burst,’ he told Verbauwen.
Ghent, March: 57.55 seconds
On a typical day, he woke up at 6am for his first session in the pool. After that, he went to a compulsory Dutch lesson for three hours. Then he changed again and returned to the pool.
When he was not in the water, he was at the gym. He bench-pressed 14st. He took whey protein and drank six litres a day: five of water, one of orange juice.
One day, Verbauwen asked him to do yet another session. ‘I cannot do this,’ he said. ‘I’m so sorry,’ replied Verbauwen, ‘but you have to.’
Ghent, April: 56.37 seconds
Verbauwen drove Anis to Brussels for a two-hour meeting with officials from the IOC. They quizzed him about his medals, about how his training was going. Back at the pool, she tried a new tack. ‘You’re in Rio right now,’ she told Anis.
He pictured the crowd, waiting silently for his race. He cut through the water so fast his muscles yelped.
Antwerp, May: 55.86 seconds
Anis spoke his first words of Dutch to Verbauwen. ‘Ik ben moe,’ he said: I’m tired.