Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Ahmad Hossien is the Syrian coach of Saleh Mohammad, a professional marathon swimmer who is competing in today’s 36 km Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli in Italy.

Saleh is a frequent and respected competitor on the FINA Open Water Swimming Grand Prix and FINA 10K Marathon Swimming World Cup professional circuits, despite not having the best training conditions available to him.

But together with Hossien, his passion overcomes the circumstances he faces.

The Syrian coach once swam on the professional marathon swimming circuit himself back in the 1980s. His swimmer has won the gold medal in the 5 km and the silver medal in the 10 km at the 2010 Asian Beach Games in Muscat, Oman, the silver medal in the 5 km and the gold medal in the 10 km at the 2013 Asian Open Water Championships in Kazakhstan, and gold medals in the 5 km and 10 km at the 2008 Asian Beach Games in Bali, Indonesia.

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