Swimmer Husseini to stretch Egyptian flag across Nile

CAIRO – 26 January 2018: Egyptian swimmer Mohamed al-Husseini, is set to help place the Egyptian flag on the surface of the Nile River on Saturday, as part of the National Police Day celebrations.

The 18-years old swimmer with Down syndrome, who attempted to swim the English Channel, will help stretch the flag five kilometers across the Nile River, along with his coach Khaled Shalabi and the Olympics swimmer Sherwet Hafez.

When attempting to swim the English Channel in August 2017, Husseini managed to swim 16 kilometers in seven hours, according to Shalabi. However, he spent more than an hour struggling in strong currents without further progress, and became unable to move his arms and legs due to the cold.

The straight-line distance across the channel is about 34 kilometers. However, currents force swimmers to swim much farther.

Husseini was honored by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi in the closing ceremony of the World Youth Forum (WYF) held in November 2017.