Egypt had a slew of great open water swimmers in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s including one man considered to be one of the greatest marathon swimmers of all time: Abdul Latif Abou Heif. There were races and promotion in the sport. Recently Mohamed El Zanaty and Mazen Aziz Metwaly represented Egypt in the last two Olympic 10K Marathon Swims in Beijing and London respectively.

But with widespread support, a passionate group of coaches and administrators aim to re-energize the sport of swimming and open water swimming in Egypt.

A 10-lane pool beside the Nile River in the north of Egypt with an anticipated focus on the development open water swimming and new methods of pool training is one part of that overall strategy under the auspices of Gezirat el Ward Swim Club, Dr Abou el Ella, a former member of the FINA Coaches Committee, Dr Mohamed el Kot, head coach of the Tanata Swim Club, and Mohamed Marouf. With the support of many swimmers, parents, and coaches, the goal is to build the first major open water swimming team in the second biggest city in Egypt in terms of economic power.

“With this conference and excitement, we are happy to kick-start the beginning of a major project and start to build the first open water swimming team in Egypt. It was an amazing day and everyone in the city welcome the dreams and goals of the swimming community,” explains Marouf.

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