For Swedish high school swimmer Emilia Karlberg, her first international swim camp in Spain promised intense training, sunny beach days, and bonding with teammates. However, by the end of the week, Emilia left Spain with something far more impactful: a newfound resilience, problem-solving skills, and confidence she hadn’t anticipated developing outside the water.   

“I’d always dreamed of something like this,” Emilia says. “Swimming, sun, friends – it felt like the perfect blend of hard work and fun.”

For the first few days, the dream held true. Emilia and her teammates trained twice a day, spending their afternoons exploring the beaches, trying local snacks, and soaking in the thrill of being in such a vibrant country. “Just being there felt like an accomplishment,” she remembers with a smile.  

But on the fourth day, things took an unexpected turn. After an exhausting swim practice that afternoon, Emilia and her friend Nelly Bergdahl returned to the bleachers where they had left their bags, only to discover their phones were gone.  

“I couldn’t believe it” Emilia recalls. “I remember turning my bag upside down three or four times, thinking, this can’t be real.” She shakes her head at the memory. “I felt so stupid for not hiding my phone better. Back home in Sweden, I’m used to leaving my phone in an outside pocket without worrying about theft. I knew it was more common in Spain, but I didn’t think it would happen to me.” 

Nelly vividly remembers the moment as well. “It was like a punch to the gut,” she says. “At first, I thought maybe I’d just misplaced it, but after searching my bag over and over, it hit me, someone had stolen it.” Nelly adds, “Being in a foreign country without a phone felt like losing our safety net and knowing someone had gone through my things made me feel sick.” 

With no phone and only a basic knowledge of Spanish, Emilia faced an unexpected challenge. Their coach, Fredrik Pettersson, quickly recognized the seriousness of the situation and immediately took the girls to the local police station. “Emilia and Nelly were understandably shaken,” he recalls. “I just tried to help them however I could.”   

Once at the station, the reality of the situation sank in. Emilia realized that the police officer only spoke Spanish, and despite having taken Spanish classes for three years, she had never been in such a high-stakes situation. “I suddenly realized that my Spanish was our only bridge to understanding,” Emilia recalls. “It felt like everyone was looking at me, expecting me to explain what had happened.”  

Taking a deep breath, Emilia began to piece together her words. “Nosotros… um… fuimos a nadar y… nuestro teléfonos… Están… perdidos… no, uh, robados,” she managed, hoping her words made sense. To her relief, the officer nodded, and with a boost of confidence, Emilia continued, piecing together just enough Spanish to explain the situation. “I kept thinking, I have to get this right. They’re counting on me,” she says. “It was terrifying, but I also felt proud. I’d never used Spanish in real life like that before.”  

Although they left the station without recovering the phones, Emilia walked away with a surprising sense of accomplishment. The tense moment in the police station, where she had to rely on her own skills to navigate an unfamiliar situation, became a defining memory of the trip. Weeks later, Emilia and her teammates would laugh about Emilia’s “awkward Spanish,” but for her, the incident held a deeper impact.  

“Looking back, it’s funny, but I know I grew from it,” Emilia reflects. The swim camp, which she had initially seen as a chance to improve her swimming, transformed into a crash course in resilience, problem-solving, and stepping outside her comfort zone. While Emilia left Spain without her phone, she returned home with a valuable sense of self-confidence, a lesson she considers, “just as important as anything I could learn in the pool.”  

“Sometimes the hardest moments teach you the most,” Emilia says. Laughing, she adds, “I definitely learned to keep my phone safer next time.” But with a more serious tone, she continues, “This experience also showed me I’m capable of more than I think. As athletes, and as people, it’s easy to doubt ourselves. If there’s one thing, I want others to take from my story, it’s to believe in yourself. You’re capable of so much more than you realize.”