Sherif Fathy, Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, honored Captain Walaa Hafez, a former naval special forces officer who currently works as a ship pilot at the Suez Canal Authority, in recognition of his global achievement after he entered Guinness World Records for the longest underwater dive by a person with disabilities, having become quadriplegic following an injury, earlier this month on August 11.
Captain Walaa Hafez, who has been dubbed the "Superhero," managed to stay underwater for 6 hours, 4 minutes and 45 seconds at a depth of 5 meters inside the Suez Canal Authority's swimming complex.
The honor came on the sidelines of the signing ceremony of a memorandum of understanding between the Supreme Council of Antiquities of the Arab Republic of Egypt and the National Center for Archaeology of the People's Republic of China in the field of maritime archaeology and underwater cultural heritage, held at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina as part of the Underwater Cultural Heritage events.
Captain Walaa Hafez had twice set Guinness World Records in 2015, for the longest time spent underwater, at 51 hours, 24 minutes and 13 seconds, and for the world's longest continuous non-stop dive, covering a distance of 100 kilometers at a maximum depth of 6 meters in less than 24 hours.
Read also:
Egyptian Sets Guinness World Record for Longest Distance Dive in Sharm El-Sheikh on November 26
