Farid Simaika

Who was Farid Simaika?

Farid Simaika was an Olympic diver who was born in Alexandria, Egypt.

Egyptian Farid Simaika was accepting his gold medal for platform diving at the 1928 Olympics, as the Egyptian national anthem was playing, when suddenly the music stopped and the votes were re-counted. He was then given a silver medal. He had initially won on total points, however the judges' high and low scores were thrown out while points for degree of difficulty were figured in.

Later, he performed in the famous Billy Rose Aquacades, which made swimming stars of Esther Williams, Eleanor Holm and Johnny Weissmuller. In Hollywood he was a stunt double in the 1931 film Seas Beneath and performed in an MGM Pete Smith Special.

Simaika became a U.S. pilot during World War II, and was shot down over New Guinea and killed by head-hunters. Eventually, his head was found suspended by strings through each ear. He was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.