Captain Nabil ElShazly is an Egyptian open water swimmer from Alexandria. He was a 4-time world champion in the early 1960’s and is an inductee ( Honor Swimmer ) in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame in its Class of 2020. He is acknowledged throughout the Middle East as the godfather of open water swimming . Born in Alexandria, Egypt, he traveled the world and raised two sons who were also successful professional marathon swimmers , Nasser Elshazly and Osama Elshazly .