The Cholomon Ice Swimming event was held in Halkidiki in Central Macedonia, Greece on February 15th and 16th. Inspired by the passion of a few Greek lovers of ice swimming, they wanted to create something similarly unique in Greece and founded the Cholomon Ice Swimming Event on February 15th and 16th 2025 in Halkidiki.

Eleftherios Tarkasis, George Mathas, Diogenis Tsonis, Tasos Papadopoulos, Vasilis Karatziovalis, Paraskevi Ougrenidou, and  Michaela Fyrgadi helped organize the event.

It was not surprising that Mathas (62, Greece, MSF bio here, IISA bio here) got involved and roped in Ice Sevens swimmer Ger Kennedy, Irish para swimmer Nicola Doran, and Jonathan Smith to get involved.

Five of the 60 participants in the event were para swimmers, another unsurprising outcome due to the efforts of Mathas.

Mathas is a 62-year-old English Channel swimmer (14 hours 50 minutes in 1998) who has finished the 25 km Toroneos Gulf Marathon 13 times between 1987 and 2015. While he has also completed the 26.4 km Lake Zurich Marathon Swim, the 45.9 km  Manhattan Island Marathon Swim, the 16 km Faros Marathon Swim, and a 16 km crossing of Lake Windermere, he has also participated in the IISA 5th World Championship, the IISA 1st European Championship, and the IISA 6th World Championship, it is his work as the National Development Coach at the Hellenic Sports Federation for Persons with Disabilities that has made a significant impact on the sport.

He served as the Greek National Team Coach & Team Manager in international para swimming  competitions at the 1994 World Championships in Malta, the 1998 World Championships in New Zealand, the 2010 World Championships in Eindhoven, the 1995 European Championships in France, the 2022 European Championships in Finland, the 1993 and 1997 World Spinal Cord Injury Championships in Nottingham, and the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. Between 1989 and 2022, he has fulfilled many different roles at the Greek National Para Swimming Championships including serving as the Head Coach.

He is also well spoken and eloquently educational on the topic of para swimming, including presenting talks at the 2021 International Online Seminar for para swimming, the 2002 International Congress of Physical Education and Sports in Komotini, the 2002 and 2003 National & International Physical Education Congresses in Thessaloniki, the 1999 National Socio-Medical Congress in Athens, the 2005 Scientific Events on Special Education in Veria, Thessaloniki, the 2005 Lifeguard Union Seminar on Aquatic Safety for Persons with Disabilities, the 2007-2009 Trainer for New Physical Education Curriculum & National Teacher Training, the University of the Aegean – Instructor in Special Physical Education.

For more information on the Cholomon Mount Ice Swimming event, visit iceswimming.gr.

There are currently 25 Greek members of the International Ice Swimming Association.

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