Flag Ceremony In The Red Sea
Courtesy of Lexie Kelly at the Red Sea. There were a few hiccups in last year’s inaugural Stroke for Egypt event when the 2.5 km-long flag did not properly lay down on the surface of the Red Sea.
But organizers Khaled Shalaby, an Egyptian who swam across the English Channel with just one arm back in 1983, and Sherwitte Hafez, a 1984 Olympian from Egypt, got it right this year when a seemingly impossibly long 2.5 km flag was impressively unfurled on the Red Sea before the start of the 5 km swim.
Nestled in the calm, warm waters off the coast of Sahl Hasheesh in Egypt, the flag was unveiled as Shalaby and Hafez had planned.
The governor presided over the unique flag extension ceremony where American, British and Egyptian swimmer shared the water with local special needs swimmers.
A slew of Californians including Lexie Kelly, Evan Kraus, Jenny Perrey and Megan Monroy along with Great Britain’s Michael Read and a pod of swimmers from the UK took part.
Copyright © 2015 by World Open Water Swimming Association
Southern California native, born 1962, is the creator of the WOWSA Awards, Oceans Seven, Openwaterpedia, Citrus Corps, World Open Water Swimming Association, Daily News of Open Water Swimming, Global Open Water Swimming Conference. He is Chief Executive Officer of KAATSU Global and KAATSU Research Institute. Inductee in the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Swimmer, Class of 2001) and Ice Swimming Hall of Fame (Honor Contributor - Media, Class of 2019), recipient of the International Swimming Hall of Fame's Poseidon Award (2016), International Swimming Hall of Fame's Irving Davids-Captain Roger Wheeler Memorial Award (2010), USA Swimming's Glen S. Hummer Award (2007, 2010) and Harvard University's John B. Imrie Award (1984). Served on the FINA Technical Open Water Swimming Committee and as Technical Delegate with the 2011 Special Olympics World Summer Games, and 9-time USA Swimming coaching staff. Note: WOWSA only recommends products or services used or recommended by the community. WOWSA does not receive compensation for links or products mentioned on this site or in blog posts. If it does, it will be indicated clearly on that specific post. See WOWSA's privacy policy for more information.
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