Background
El-Masri was born and raised in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Lower Saxony, by Syrian immigrants, whom his father studied geology at the Clausthal University of Technology.
El-Masri was born and raised in Clausthal-Zellerfeld, Lower Saxony, by Syrian immigrants, whom his father studied geology at the Clausthal University of Technology.
He moved to Berlin at the age of five, where he eventually started swimming. He also held a dual citizenship for Germany and Syria, which made him eligible to compete in future international competitions. Syria (2004–2007)
However, he decided to compete instead for the Syrian Olympic team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.
El-Masri finished in fourth place of his assigned heat, with an impressive time of 22.58 seconds.
El-Masri continued to compete for Syria at two FINA World Championships (2005 in Montreal, and 2007 in Melbourne), but failed to reach his personal best times set at the Olympics. Germany (2008–present)
In 2008, he qualified for the Summer Olympics in Beijing, after finishing second in the 50 m freestyle event at German national trials, just behind Steffen Deibler, with a time of 21.80 seconds.
Shortly before the games, El-Masri was given a chance by FINA to switch nationalities, after having represented his country of origin at the previous Olympics, and at the World Championships. Representing his adopted nation Germany, El-Masri competed in the men"s 50 m freestyle, along with his compatriot Deibler, who finished ahead of him in the trials.
He challenged seven other swimmers on the twelfth heat, including heavy favorites Amaury Leveaux of France and three-time Olympian Stefan Nystrand of Sweden.
El-Masri finished behind United States. swimmer Ben Wildman-Tobriner in fourth place by 0.21 of a second with a time of 21.96 seconds. El-Masri recorded a tenth fastest time in the preliminary heats to advance further into the semifinals. The following morning, El-Masri fell short in his bid for the final, as he finished the semifinal run with a third slowest time of 22.09 seconds.
In 2004, El-Masri became a member of SG Neukölln swimming club in Berlin, and also, trained for the German national team