Marwan Elkamash Makes History as First Egyptian Man to Win Gold Medal at World Cup

2022 FINA WORLD CUP – TORONTO

Marwan Elkamash made history on Sunday by becoming the first Egyptian man ever to win a gold medal at the World Cup. 

The 28-year-old swam in the “slower” heat of the men’s 800 free on Sunday morning in Toronto, but his personal-best time of 7:45.09 was more than three seconds faster of the top finisher in the evening heat, 21-year-old Dutchman Luc Kroon

MEN’S 800 FREE — FASTEST HEAT

  • World Record: 7:23.42, Grant Hackett (AUS) – 2008
  • World Jr. Record: 7:36.00, Sven Schwarz (GER) – 2019
  • World Cup Record: 7:35.58, Gabriele Detti (ITA) – 2017

PODIUM:

  1. Marwan Elkamash (EGY) – 7:45.09
  2. Luc Kroon (NED) – 7:48.42
  3. Ondrej Gemov (CZE) – 7:50.16

The victory made Elkamash the first Egyptian — man or woman — to win a World Cup medal of any color since at least the turn of the century. 

The lifetime best for Elkamash also lowered the Egyptian record in the 800 SCM free for the third time in the past eight days. On his way to shattering the 1500 free national record last Saturday in Berlin, Elkamash also broke the Egyptian standard in the 800 free with his split of 7:49.89. 

That was eight seconds faster than his previous national record from 2018, but it only lasted a day before Ahmed Akram crushed a 7:49.75 at the Saint-Dizier International Meeting in France last Sunday. A week later, Elkamash took another four seconds off the mark with his 7:45.09, which made him the fifth-fastest performer of all time from Africa. 

Fastest African 800 SCM Free Performers of All Time

  1. Ahmed Hafnaoui (TUN), 7:33.69 – 2021 
  2. Ous Mellouli (TUN), 7:36.84 – 2014
  3. Ryk Neethling (RSA), 7:44.10 – 2000
  4. Myles Brown (RSA), 7:44.41 – 2013
  5. Marwan Elkamash (EGY), 7:45.09 – 2022

“Extremely proud that my hard work is finally paying off,” Elkamash told SwimSwam. “And representing Egypt internationally at the highest level there is, is something that I always take great pride in. Also we have a very solid group at Indiana that has been phenomenal, especially with having Ahmed Hafnaoui joining us. I thought I was good in practice until I swam with him.”

Between Elkamash and Akram, four of the top seven 800 SCM free swims in Egyptian history have taken place in the past eight days as the record as dropped more than 12 seconds from where it stood just a couple weeks ago.

A two-time Olympian, Elkamash now owns nine Egyptian records — six at the short-course level and four set during this year’s World Cup series. In addition to the 800 free in Toronto, he also broke the 200 free, 400 free, and 1500 free standards in Berlin last weekend. 

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boi
1 year ago

the salah of swimming XD

Swimmy
1 year ago

Indiana, rising distance team?

Demarrit Steenbergen
1 year ago

Egypt has been a sleeper for a while, in a decade, they will be strong with the right ngb efforts.

BDN
1 year ago

marweezyyyyy

Trevor
1 year ago

Elkamash is one of the names that I feel like I have been hearing since the beginning of my swimming career. I remember watching lots of TYR Pro Series events and this guy named “Marwan Elkamash” in the distance freestyle events. That feels like a decade ago. Great to see that his career is still going well and thriving. Longevity and consistency is really important to the sport. Congratulations!

Gheko
1 year ago

Nice to see!

About Riley Overend

Riley is an associate editor interested in the stories taking place outside of the pool just as much as the drama between the lane lines. A 2019 graduate of Boston College, he arrived at SwimSwam in April of 2022 after three years as a sports reporter and sports editor at newspapers …

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