International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame 2008 Class

The International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame welcomed the following inductees to its 2008 class:

1. Stephane Lecat of France (swimmer)
2. Osama Ahmed Momtaz of Egypt (swimmer)
3. Edith van Dijk of the Netherlands (swimmer)
4. Vicko Soljan of Croatia (administrator)
5. David Whyte of Great Britain (pilot)
6. James Doty of the USA (swimmer and administrator)
7. Jerry Nason of the USA (newspaper editor)
8. Charles E. Silvia of the USA (coach and International Swimming Hall of Famer)

The exploits of these individuals will be serially outlined here:

As a young swimmer, Momtaz competed in the Egyptian Short Distance National Championship in freestyle from 100 meters to 1500 meters and butterfly events from 1968 to 1979. He was the under 16 15K Junior National Champion n 1975, first in the Amateur Egyptian National Swimming Marathon Championships between 1979 to 1984 and competed in races from 25K to 40K, including the 36K Nile River Swim. He competed in the 25K marathon swims in Lake Windermere (1979), Cyprus, Turkey International (1980), Sabac Yugoslavia International and Venice, Italy International (1982). In 1984, he completed a double-crossing English Channel with a new men’s record of 21 hour 37 minutes. He competed in races in Long Beach, California, Stari-Grad, Cancun, Mexico, the 34K Traversee Internationale du Lac Memphremagog in Canada, the 22-mile Around-the-Island Marathon Swim in Atlantic City and the 60K Sante Fe – Coronado. He swam and played water polo for New Mexico State University from 1988-1992. Since 1992, he has served in managerial and technical director positions for his Club Zamalek and the Egyptian national team. He competed for over 10 years in masters long distance and was presented the National Award for Excellency in Sport by Egyptian President Mubarak in 1986.