The Channel Champion. - Hassan Abd El Rehim strikes a boxer's pose after landing near Dover, at South Foreland. Hassan Abd El Rehim 41-year-old Egyptian Army Lieutenant, swam across the English Channel faster, than anyone in history Aug. 22. He won a first prize of £1,000 in the big cross-channel race. His time ***** 10 hours 52 minutes was 13 minutes better than that set by Georges Michel of France in 1926. Rehim had swum the channel twice before. In 1949 he became the third man to swim the 19-mile strip in both directions. The 24 entrants for the big cross-channel twelve countries. August 22, 1950. (Photo by Associated Press Photo).