Nejib Belhedi

Nejib Belhedi was born in Sfax, Tunisia, in 1952 and served in the Tunisian air force. His early distance swims took place close to home. On 25 June 1991 he swam from the Kerkennah Islands to Sfax. Two years later he travelled to England to attempt the Channel while still serving in the military. He recalled that his orders gave him only a short window to swim.

With Michael Oram piloting Aegean Blue and J. Woodward observing, Belhedi reached France in 16 hours 35 minutes. He described using the lights on the French shore to hold his course in the final stretch. The Channel Swimming Association recognised Tunisia with its 1993 award for a swimmer from a new country. The crossing also inspired the Belhedi Trophy, first presented at the association's Dover dinner in November 2008 for swimming on the season's highest tide.

Belhedi later swam the Tunisian coast in stages and developed Ouma, an invitation for children to swim in the sea. A Djerba event he organised in June 2013 brought together 450 children and teenagers. In his 2019 interview he described a programme open both to children learning to swim and to those who wanted to develop their skills.