Egyptians In Capri-Napoli: Marei Hassan Hammed And Ahmed Youssef Amin

Courtesy of KAATSU Global, Huntington Beach, California.

The 2020 Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli was postponed until September 6th due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but its history is rich and its legacy will continue.

After swimming between Napoli and Capri Island for the first time in 1949, the 12-hour crossing by two local Italians Aldo Fioravanti and Cesare Alfieri opened the way for larger, official and increasingly prestigious races on August 1st 1954.

The first 36 km race was held with Marei Hassan Hammed becoming one of the many Egyptian winners in the long history of the race.

1954 Edition Results: 1 Marei Hassan Hammed, Egypt 10 hours 0 minutes 42 seconds 2 Moustafa Hammed, Egypt 10 hours 14 minutes 23 seconds 3 Alfredo Camarero, Argentina 11 hours 6 minutes 7 seconds 4 Sayd El Araby, Egypt 11 hours 14 minutes 1 seconds 5 Warle Lars, Sweden 13 hours 58 minutes 7 seconds 6 Robert Denis, France 14 hours 6 minutes 56 seconds DNF: L. Shermer, Netherlands; A. Fioravanti, Italy OTL: H. Saleh / Jason Zirganos, Syria / Greece One of the many Egyptian winners is Ahmed Youssef Amin, now a 72-year-old retired Olympic swimmer and marathon swimmer from Egypt living in California.

“Youssef was a very good swimmer,” recalls fellow Egyptian professional marathon swimmer Nasser Elshazly, a fellow Capri-Napoli winner in 1977. “He was a very fast swimmer and swam on the pro circuit between 1974 and 1977.”

He also competed in two events at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, the 100m backstroke and 200m IM. Two years later, he finished second to Veljko Rogošić of Yugoslavia in July 1975. The next year, he beat Claudio Plit to capture his first World Professional Marathon Swimming Federation event.

22th edition Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli:
1 Ahmed Youssef (Egypt) 7 hours 14 minutes 42 seconds
2 Claudio Plit (Argentina) 7 hours 32 minutes 33 seconds
3 Luis Diaz (Argentina) 7 hours 39 minutes 56 seconds
4 Marawan Saleh (Syria) 7 hours 44 minutes 3 seconds
5 Maher Saleh (Syria) 7 hours 53 minutes 45 seconds
6 Abdullah Nagy (Egypt) 8 hours 6 minutes 6 seconds
7 Fuad Shatat (Syria) 8 hours 21 minutes 55 seconds
8 Habarah Hussein (Syria) 8 hours 39 minutes 40 seconds
9 Sahara Mansour (Egypt) 8 hours 42 minutes 40 seconds – 1st woman
10 Marcelo Guiscardo (Argentina) 8 hours 48 minutes 22 seconds
11 Jennifer Anderson (Australia) 8 hours 55 minutes 55 seconds – 2nd woman
12 Richard Campion (Australia) 9 hours 7 minutes 30 seconds
13 Miriam Vaccani (Argentina) 9 hours 23 minutes 6 seconds – 3rd woman
14 Diana Nyad (USA) 9 hours 24 minutes 57 seconds – 4th woman
15 Giovanni Occhiello (Italy) 9 hours 26 minutes 8 seconds
16 Naste Jonceski (Yugoslavia) 9 hours 27 minutes 12 seconds
17 Mohamud Mustafa (Sudan) 9 hours 27 minutes 33 seconds
18 Abdullah Kairy (Egypt) 9 hours 46 minutes 51 seconds
19 Klaus Stutzer (Germany) 9 hours 52 minutes 3 seconds
20 Alawi Makki (Saudi Arabia) 10 hours 15 minutes 37 seconds
21 Angela Marchetti (Argentina) 10 hours 19 minutes 43 seconds – 5th woman
22 Magdi Fareed (Egypt) 10 hours 44 minutes 54 seconds
23 Danvier Khatau (India) 10 hours 50 minutes 11 seconds
24 Zoheir Sharaf Eldine (Lebanon) 11 hours 5 minutes 27 seconds
25 Abd El Awzi (Kuwait) 11 hours 24 minutes 37 seconds

For more information on the race, visit www.caprinapoli.com.

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