I was in the water for 11 hours...and entered the swimmers` cemetery.. Swimming taught me the spirit of challenge and patience... My family is the secret of my success..

Interview by: Al-Zahraa Rashad

Today we meet with a woman of high caliber; She is the first Egyptian woman to cross the Channel, and she received the Medal of the Republic of the second class from the late President Anwar Sadat. About the details of her journey with the Channel, we had this conversation.

 First of all, we want an identification card for you?

Jihan Ahmed Ismail Metwally, born on May 1, 1957. Graduated from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Department of Economics, Cairo University, Class of 1979, and holds a Ph.D. in Business Administration. I worked in several fields until I settled down as a director of MBA programs at the University of Aselska.

 What about your sporting beginnings?

I started my sports life since I was five years old, and I practiced several sports, including swimming and diving. My beginnings were in the Cairo Sports Club, and I played short distance swimming and diving. And I won the championships of the Republic and the Egyptian Cup in these two sports until it became necessary to choose between them, so I chose swimming for short distances.

 And when did you join the Egyptian national swimming team?

I entered the national team in 1968 when I was 11 years old at the time. Since I joined the national team, I have been booking a place for me among the first three places in the various tournaments. The beginning was in the Arab Championship, and after that the various participations continued for me Continentally, in the Arab world and internationally.

 How long ago did you transition from short distance swimming to long distance swimming?

In 1974 I was chosen to represent Egypt in long-distance swimming, and I started training in the Nile and the Sea; Where I moved from training in swimming pools to training in deeper waters, and the duration of my training was not less than 4 hours per day.

What are the most prominent tournaments that you participated in at that time?

I participated in the International Nile Race and won the third place in the world, and then the International Scotland Race known as the Wonder Mere in 1974 and also achieved the third place. The world includes swimmers from the top countries of France, England, Australia and the United States of America, and the weather was very cold in that race, and out of the 150 participating swimmers, only 27 of them completed the race. After my victory, I got a shield and a certificate, after that, in the same year, Abla Khairy and I crossed the Channel as the first Egyptian swimmers to cross the Channel in history.

What about your upbringing and its role in these achievements?
My mother was a housewife and was completely devoted to me and my brothers, and my father was a man of experience, and he believed in the necessity of practicing sports to graduate a healthy and psychologically young man, so we used to go to the club from 8 am to 12 pm to play and train, and from here I learned several sports, table tennis, squash, croquet, swimming and diving, and won championships which prompted me to be the ideal student at Economics and Political Science faculty, Cairo University.

Let`s talk about the period of the university and the championships that you achieved with the Cairo University team?

They used to call me the Joker at university because I practiced several sports, if I was in a swimming tournament, they would ask me for squash and table tennis. The university at this time was rewarding distinguished students in sports by traveling on a recreational trip at the end of the year, so I traveled to several countries, including Iran and Cyprus, and we were on the trip 300 male and female athletes from different faculties in various games.

How do you see the reality of university sports?

University sports depend on already champion athletes who have won championships before entering the university. They ask for distinguished students in different games who are registered in college youth sponsorship books. The university sports help the athlete who may have stopped practicing due to the pressures of studying and high school period to return to training and tournaments.

How did you succeed in reconciling study and sports?

You will not believe that above all of this I worked in the second level as an air hostess, my time was divided between three things: training, study and work. Despite this, I maintained success throughout the years of study and good grades. I even finished my duties on the plane and had my books with me. I studied in the air, and I was attending lectures due to my sense of responsibility and desire to prove to my parents that I am not negligent.

Your sports career lasted 60 years, how did you succeed in that?

I`m fortunate that my husband, the father of my children, was very understanding and proud of my achievements and sports championships. Sports taught me patience, challenge, stamina. I used to work, study, and exercise after marriage, I was up to the responsibility, and because of my love for swimming, I entered a corporate tournament while I was pregnant, and despite that, I kept my pregnancy. I have always had the desire to balance between my home and sports. My husband passed away and my children were in elementary school, and despite that, I completed the journey with them until my daughter graduated from the Faculty of Economics and Political Science, and my son graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at the American University. After their marriage, I married a virtuous man who also encourages me to exercise, he attends tournaments and takes pictures of me during the coronation ceremony. Family support is the secret of my success.

And how did your candidacy come to cross the English Channel?

After winning the 1974 Wonder Mar International Race, Abla Khairy and I were nominated to cross the English Channel. English Channel is a passage that separates England from France and connects the North Sea with the Atlantic Ocean. Its length is about 563 km, and its width is 240 km. And then until Abla Khairy came out of the official race because she was 14 years old and she had not reached the important official age after our arrival and our willingness to try every day, they tell us that today is the time for the attempt at three in the morning, and then they tell us that the attempt was canceled because of the tide and after that, and the cancellation is also due to the air current. Until the 24th of August came, and indeed the attempt was decided at 12 noon, and despite the bad weather, snow, torrential rains, winds and hurricanes, the attempt was made. Abla Khairy and I, the three English coaches and referees, wearing heavy jackets, were in a boat next to us to follow our progress.

How was life in the Channel during the hours of swimming?

We kept trying for 13 hours continuously, from 12 noon until one in the morning, the beginning of our descent into the water. They lubricated us with a substance to prevent the cold somewhat, but of course after a while it fell with the strength of the waves and the current of the wind. When we got out of the water, we were injured from the long period of swimming and moving the body. A circle was brought down to us on an iron skewer with a plastic cup containing stimulants, a hot drink, honey and glucose. Then they brought us compote. We used to take the cup, drink it and throw it away. We were not allowed to stand and prop up the boat because this nullifies the attempt.

How did you spend these long hours while swimming?

I was counting the time, for example, the hour has sixty seconds, and I kept counting until the hour ended, and so on, then I kept repeating the patriotic songs, and I kept reminding myself that I was making glory for myself, my family, the club to which I belong, and my country. Something, and I found myself reaching the coast of France, and the referees asked me to walk three steps on the beach. I found myself running, not just walking, and here I knew the success of my attempt and crossing the English Channel as the first Egyptian woman to achieve this achievement.

What are the most prominent positions that you remember in this regard?

I remember that they forgot my rope on the beach as soon as I got out of the water and the temperature was 3 degrees, which prompted them to wrap me in light clothes and I rode the boat after completing my attempt for 3 hours returning from France to England, and I was screaming from pain and fatigue because of the difficulty of trying, and I found myself injured in my whole body My stomach was burnt by the sting of a jellyfish. It is also strange that after I got out, I knew that I had entered a place known as the "swimmers`cemetery", I was floating in an air stream that pushed me to float in the same place as if I was tied in a rope to the point that the three referees asked my coach if I want to withdraw, the response was no, and I kept floating in the same place for an hour until a second stream came and I floated along with it.

And how was the official and media reaction after the success of the attempt?

Before we arrived in Egypt, we were surprised by the English newspapers writing about us and the British Radio. Abla and I received a telegram from the late President Anwar Sadat and his wife Jihan Sadat. They told us that we had made propaganda for Egypt and I still keep the telegraph until now.

What about reception at Cairo airport?

We were received by Dr. Abdel Hamid Hassan, the former Minister of Youth and Sports, and Captain Mohamed Latif, the sports commentator, and they brought us bouquets of roses. When we got off, they took us to the VIP hall, and we found the Zamalek Club, which I had moved to, and we found that it had allocated four buses to receive us, and the Al-Jazira Club, for which Abla used to play as well.

In the VIP Hall, they gave us press interviews and took us from the VIP Hall to the TV. There, the journalist Samir Sabry and the presenter Salma Al-Shamaa conducted an interview with us on the International Club program. The reception was wonderful, and we spent a month in celebrations and media meetings. The presidency decided to receive us officially at the President’s Rest House in Alexandria. The late President Anwar Sadat honored us and awarded us the Medal of the Republic of the second class.

 You told me that you are the director of postgraduate programs at the University of Aselska. What about your representation of the university in the professors` championships?

Aselska University is one of the universities that is very interested in sports, to the extent that they established a department called Sports Management or Sport Management, because sports currently need specialization. There is stadium management, tournament management, league management, and even player management. As a sponsor of swimming championships, I participated in it. It is worth noting that our students are distinguished champions in various games.

What about your participation in adult tournaments recently?

I am keen to participate in the Masters Championships, and I always win medals, whether in the Republic Championships, the Egypt Cup, or specialized club tournaments such as the Shooting Club Championship or the Heliopolis Club Championship. Each club holds a tournament. In all the championships that I participated in, he won the Best Swimming Cup.