Egypt's Flying Eight

The Egyptian eight aiming for Lucerne. Copyright Bloso – Jan Masyn
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By Melissa Bray

One of the big surprises at this weekend’s first World Cup in Hazewinkel was the men’s eight final. The buzz around the rowing course began after the heats:
What was Olympic Champions Great Britain doing at the back of the field?
What was Egypt doing at the front?

Maybe it’s not so surprising. After all Egypt invented rowing. It used to be the main form of transportation on the Nile back in the days of the pyramids. But it was not made into a sport until Britain reintroduced it to the country at the turn of the century.

7000 years later the Egyptians are again showing their skills. In an exciting final they managed to hold off Italy and Croatia to take third place behind rowing super-forces Germany and World Champions, Romania. This crew, however, is a long way removed from the early galleys that were often used to transport people and equipment during wars. This crew has come together through their country’s national team selection process. Under the guidance of head coach, Dimitri Riaboukha, imported from the Ukraine, the eight was formed.

Most of the team is not new to the international rowing scene. Three seat, Aly Ibrahim, is the most experienced. A veteran of two Olympic Games, he is taking a break from the single to enjoy the team aspect of the sport. Tarek Hamed Mohamed Hamid was part of the coxless four that came twelfth at the 2000 Olympics and seventh in 2001. Two other members of the four from 2001, Kamal Hassan Mohamed Abdel Rehim and Sameh Hassan Ahmed, join him in the eight.

The rest of the crew are either members of last year’s eight that came ninth at the World Championships, or new to the international scene, including coxswain, Magdy Farraq Ahmed Farraq. At 20 years old he is the youngest member of the team with the ages ranging to Ibrahim who at 29 is the oldest in the boat.

Farraq, steering the way for Egypt. Copyright Bloso – Jan Masyn
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This mixture of talent has come together as an eight, a mere month ago, when Egypt chose their national team. For those chosen, the government wrote a letter to the employers of the athletes and asked that they could have three months off work. As Khaled Zain El Din, President of the Egyptian Rowing Federation, explained, their employers always comply. ?Because it is important for our country,? he said. If they are at university, they are allowed to sit their exams when they return.

At the award ceremony, the crew wore huge smiles, while their supporters went wild with excitement. They are not only one of the few African nations to be represented at the first Rowing World Cup for 2002, but they are also part of the small group of rowers ever to stand on the winning dais of the men’s eight.

The crew will stay and train at the World Cup venue in Hazewinkel, Belgium until the next World Cup Regatta in Lucerne in mid July. This will be especially important for Farraq. Coxing on the Nile from the national training centre in Cairo has not allowed him to master rowing in a straight line on a buoyed course.

Watch out for their progress at Lucerne in July.