Courtesy of Itziar Mondragón Laresgoiti, Mahdia, Tunisia.

Nejib Belehdi was honored by Her Excellency The Minister of Youth and Sport Affairs Madam Majdouline Charni on September 24th for his 76 hour 30 minute swim in the Mediterranean Sea from Sfax to Djerba in Tunisia.

The Tunisian government officials are very supportive of Belhedi’s plans to swim 130 km from the island of Lampedusa, Italy to the Mahdia coastline of Tunisia next year as a symbolic swim that will help encourage the stream of immigrants from North Africa to the European continent to think about establishing peace and prosperity in their own native lands. “The swim is in the reverse direction of the immigration flow and can symbolize a harmonious and global defense policy of Tunisia,” says Belhedi, a former special operations office and Lieutenant Colonel in the Tunisian Army. “Swims like this can lubricate the machine of peace and prosperity between countries.”

Belhedi’s 130 km swim between Europe and Africa is expected to take over 80 hours and is scheduled to be attempted in the first half of September 2019 with the support of the Tunisian Armed Forces. If successful, Belhedi will be 67 years old at the time of his Italy-to-Tunisia attempt that would be the longest sea swim in terms of duration.

Swimmers who have swum longer than 24 hours in solo unassisted marathon swims – members of the 24-Hour Club – are posted here.

Photo above show Minister Charni with Belhedi on September 24th 2018.

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