The Doctor Is In

Courtesy of WOWSA, Huntington Beach, California.

Dr. Ahmed Rashad Sallam, originally from Alexandria and a former Egyptian national open water swimmer with a wealth of international racing experience, continues his participation on the global open water swimming community.

We asked Dr. Sallam, currently a professor of international and business law, about the current generation of Egyptian professional marathon swimmers, including Mazen Aziz and Mohamed El Zanaty, who are doing quite well on the FINA World Cup and FINA Grand Prix circuits.

"The new heroes of Egyptian swimming have enough qualifications and experience to be among the world-leading swimmers. They are a pride of Egypt and [they will] represent our country [well]."

Dr. Sallam, who finished second in the 1987 Windermere World Championships, always had a philosophical view of marathon swimming, "Swimming was my life. I enjoy being in the water. I feel that I have more endurance than the other competitors and learned to be patient and not to consume all my energy. I saved my best for the finish."

He swam in both English Channel and pool: he was a member of the Egyptian National Team’s crossing in 1987 and won a gold medal in the 1500-meter freestyle in the All-African Swimming Championships in Kenya in 1984.

He also competed in the World Open Rivers Championships in Egypt in 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990 and 1991, the 1988 World 25K Swimming Championships in Lake Zurich in 1988, the 1986 World 17 km Open Water Swimming Championships in Evian, Switzerland in 1986.

He also did races as varied as the 18 km Palermo race in Italy in 1986 and the 25 km Sabac, Yugoslavia race in 1985 and most recently played a role in the Egyptian Swimming Federation.


Like his famous predecessor Abdull Latif Abo-Heif who was voted the greatest marathon swimmer of the 20th century, Dr. Sallam has represented his country and the sport well. We see the same for Aziz and El Zanaty who continue to compete in the highest levels of the sport.

Copyright © 2011 by World Open Water Swimming Association

Olympians Meet Expectations in Africa

Chad Ho and Natalie du Toit both won the 5K open water swim at the 2008 African Swimming Championships in Johannesburg, South Africa this weekend.

In a highly anticipated showdown between the top African continental open water swimmers, Chad easily beat Egypt’s Mazen Aziz 58:39 to 1:00.56 in the 5K course in Germiston Lake.

Mazen had performed very well on the FINA World Cup circuit this year, including a win in Traversee Internacionale du Lac St-Jean, but he did not have it yesterday after a very long 2008 season. "It's been a long year of swimming," agreed Chad. "I will take a short break before focusing on my preparations towards next year's FINA World Championships to be held in Rome, Italy."



Fellow Olympian 10K’er Natalie du Toit similarly won the women’s race in 1:04:01 over South African teammate, Dominique Dryding (1:06.43) and Tunisia's Sarra Lajnef (1:10.08).

Natalie said, "The water was warm which made for great swimming conditions and I really enjoyed the swim, considering I hadn't put in the mileage that I would normally have clocked ahead of an event of this nature."

Information provided by Swimming South Africa.

Photo of Natalie at the 2007 Sabrina Love Ocean Challenge.

Both Chad and Natalie are nominees for the 2008 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year and World Open Water Swimming Woman of the Year awards.

FINA 10K Pro Series Champions

The FINA 10km Marathon Swimming World Cup pro circuit announced its overall winners for its 2008 season.

The "Dara Torres" of the open water world, Angela Maurer won the circuit having participated and medaled in almost every World Cup race this season. Larisa Ilchenko was second after a shortened season where she focused on the Beijing Olympic 10K. Third was young Ana Marcela Cunha of Brazil.

Valerio Cleri was dominant among the men followed by long-time pro Yuri Kudinov of Russia and up-and-coming Mazen Aziz of Egypt. The final standings and allocated prize money are as follows:

MEN
1. Valerio Cleri (ITA) – US$15,000
2. Yuri Kudinov (RUS) – US$10,000
3. Mazen Aziz (EGY) – US$5,000

WOMEN
1. Angela Maurer (GER) – US$15,000
2. Larisa Ilchenko (RUS) – US$10,000
3. Ana Marcela Cunha (BRA) – US$5,000

First Couple of Open Water Swimming

Swimming World Magazine ran an interesting article based on an interview with Larisa Ilchenko conducted by Shelley Taylor-Smith.

The first couple of the FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup performed very well in the Singapore leg on October 4th.

Larisa Ilchenko won the women's race while her training partner and boyfriend Daniil Serebrennikov tied with Valerio Cleri of Italy in the men's race with an exact time of 2:09.20.25.

Cleri, who got fourth in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim, has five FINA World Cup victories and one bronze in the 2008 pro 10K circuit. He looks to lock up the 2008 overall title after he participates in the season-ending Cancun race. The overall World Cup circuit winners, both male and female, receive an additional US$15,000.

In addition to her Olympic 10K Marathon Swim gold medal, Ilchenko has three golds and a silver during the 2008 circuit. She has been training with her boyfriend of three years, Serebrennikov, who has one gold and two silvers during the 2008 season.

In a typically exciting finish, Serebrennikov and Cleri finished a stroke ahead of Egypt's Mazen Mohamed Aziz. Aziz took bronze only one second behind in 2:09.21.08. Less than a second behind Aziz was fourth place Yury Kudinov of Russia with a time of 2:09.21.99.

Aziz has earned a medal of every color during the 2008 World Cup season, making up for his just missing qualification in the Beijing Olympic 10K.

As was expected, Ilchenko outsprinted Brazil's Ana Marcela Cunha and Angela Maurer who took the silver and bronze medals respectively. In addition to her close fourth-place finish at the Olympics, Maurer has one gold, one silver and three bronze medals during the 2008 FINA World Cup season and is leading the current rankings going into the final race in Cancun.

The results are as follows:

MEN
1. Daniil Serebrennikov in 2:09.20.251.
1. Valerio Cleri in 2:09.20.25
3. Mazen Mohamed Aziz in 2:09.21.08

WOMEN
1. Larisa Ilchenko in 2:16.22.00
2. Ana Marcela Cunha in 2:16.25.09
3. Angela Maurer in 2:16.27.32

Upper photo shows Ilchenko (middle) accepting her winner's check from FINA representative Shelley Taylor-Smith (to her right) at the FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup in Hong Kong on September 28th. Second-place Kristel Kobrich of Chile and third-place Ana Marcela Cunha of Brazil (far left) are also shown in the photo by Shelley Taylor-Smith.

Lower photo by Shelley Taylor-Smith shows Ilchenko at a pre-race clinic in Singapore for the local students.

Open Water Pros Head Back to China

After putting on an incredible show with tremendous performances in Beijing, many of the world's top marathon swimmers returned to China for another stop on the professional FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup tour.

As was expected, the races were tight, exciting and competitive in Shantou, China on September 21st.

On the men's side, Italy's Valerio Cleri, who had just come off of a dominating 25K victory at the 2008 European Open Water Swimming Championships in Croatia, beat Egypt's up-and-coming Mazen Aziz for the gold. The bronze went to Brazil's Allan do Carmo with Russia’s Yuri Kudinov in fourth.

In an unexpected surprise, Kristel Kobrich of Chile, who did not finish the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim in Beijing, won in a time of 2:10:49.77 over Larisa Ilchenko in 2:10:53.40. The bronze was captured by Angela Maurer with Alice Franco, Britta Kamrau-Corestein and Ana Marcela Cunha taking 4th, 5th and 6th respectively.

The medalists were as follows:
1. Valerio Cleri, 2:06:58
2. Mazen Mohamed Aziz, 2:07:03
3. Allan do Carmo, 2:07:05

1. Kristel Kobrich, 2:10:49
2. Larisa Ilchenko, 2:10:53
3. Angela Maurer, 2:10:55

The next race will be held on October 4th in Singapore before the tour culminates in Cancun, Mexico on October 11th.

Photo of Valerio Cleri by Giorgio Scala of Deepbluemedia.

Hong Kong Stop on the Pro Tour

In the post-Olympic season, the elite world of open water swimming continues in Asia. At the FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup 2008 in Hong Kong on September 28th, it was another incredibly close and competitive race on both the men's and women's side.

On the men's side, Italy's Valerio Cleri just out-touched Russia's Daniil Serebrennikov and Brazil's Allan do Carmo by one second. Egypt’s rising talent Mazen Aziz was 4th when he outsprinted multi-time world champion Yury Kudinov by by one second.

And, as it is becoming the longest running re-run on the pro circuit, Olympic 10K Marathon Swim champion Larisa Ilchenko of Russia out-ran Chile’s Kristel Kobrich by 3 seconds.

Bronze went to young Ana Marcela Cunha, who was 5th in Beijing, but only after a razor-thin defeat of 4th-place Alice Franco of Italy. German's Angela Maurer and Britta Kamrau-Corestein got fifth and sixth respectively.

The medalists were as follows:
1. Valerio Cleri, 1:46:17
2. Daniil Serebrennikov, 1:46:18
3. Allan do Carmo, 1:46:22

1. Larisa Ilchenko, 1:52:15
2. Kristel Kobrich, 1:52:18
3. Ana Marcela Cunha, 1:52:24

Photo of Valerio Cleri by Giorgio Scala of Deepbluemedia.

Egyptian Champion in Lac St-Jean

Morty Berger of the Manhattan Island Foundation captured a great photo of Egypt's Mazen Aziz at the feeding station at the Traversee Internationale du lac St-Jean. According to Morty, the conditions in Lac St-Jean were rainy, windy, choppy and bleak. As the men were heading into the finish under these rough conditions, Maziz, the overall winner, the held a solid line while the others in the lead pack zig-zagged with the wind forcing their line.

Copyright © 2008 by World Open Water Swimming Association

Classic FINA 10K Race Finish in Canada

Egypt's Mazen Aziz upset English Channel record holder Petar Stoychev of Bulgaria and Mission Viejo's Fran Crippen in the pro 10K race at the Traversee Internationale du lac St-Jean in Quebec, Canada. In a classic FINA 10KM Marathon Swimming World Cup finish, Aziz won in 2:04.15.84 over Stoychev's 2:04.16.30 and Crippen's 2:04.16.87.

Fourth went to David Browne of Australia in 2:04.18.02 and fifth sent to Brendan Capell in 2:04.20.3. Stoychev was the only male swimmer in Lac St Jean who will also be competing in the Olympic 10K Marathon Swim.

Prior to the race, Stoychev said, "I have a son now and I have to provide for my family. This is my profession and I must travel the world to compete and win [prize money]."

Photo by Morty Berger of NYC Swim.

Copyright © 2008 by World Open Water Swimming Association