A Palestinian swimmer has an Olympic-sized pool in her hometown, contrary to claims in news reports that she had no regulation-sized pools to train in, Tablet reported Saturday.

Media reports about Palestinian Olympic hopeful Mary al-Atrash indicated that in addition to the usual challenges facing Olympic athletes, al-Atrash also had to deal with “the fact that the occupation had cut off her access to a proper 50-meter-long pool, the standard Olympic size,” Tablet’s Liel Leibovitz wrote. “Such stately facilities, the media informed its outraged viewers, were simply not available in Palestine.”

However, Leibovitz then contacted the Murad Tourist Resort in Beit Sakhour, al-Atrash’s hometown, which claimed to have an Olympic-sized pool. (The resort’s website actually claims to have four Olympic-sized pools.)

There are also Olympic-sized pools in Nablus and Gaza.

Al-Atrash could have contacted Israeli authorities and applied for a permit to train in Jerusalem, Leibovitz noted. Israeli authorities have no record of her filing such an application.

[Photo: Murad Tourist Resort ]