Photo of Giannis Kotsiopoulos, 2016 Olympic silver medalist and world champion Spyros Gianniotis, Greek national federal technical coach Nikos Gemelos, Mayor of Istiaia-Edipsos Ioannis Kontzias by Andreas Papakonstantinou of Tourette Photography, Pefki, Greece.
The Authentic Marathon Swim Skyllias & Hydna will be held on July 4th-5th at Pefki, Evia in Istiaia-Edipsos, Greece.
The two-day event will include a 10 km marathon swim, 800m kid’s swim, 3 km open water swim, and a 1.5 km open water swim in the straits of Artemision.
Akis Tsolis described the Authentic Marathon Swim, “It links the past and present; it represents the revival of the original marathon swimming route, 2.500 years after it was first accomplished by Skyllias and his daughter Hydna, both of whom helped Greece in the historical naval battle of Artemision in the year 480 B.C.”
Deputy Minister of Culture & Sports Lefteris Avgenakis said, “The organizers of this event are to be congratulated for teaching athletes the value and greatness of the historical achievement of those two swimmers. It is fully aligned with our philosophy of extroversion and the development of sports tourism in our areas. Through this event, the history of this land is promoted, and the philosophy of this event thoroughly identifies with our main goal of making sport a way of life while achieving: improvement in quality of people’s lives, promotion of a healthy model of living, and preparation of better citizens through sports.”
2016 Olympic silver medalist Spyros Gianniotis stated, “This is an historical event that links our past and our present with the glorious times of Ancient Greece. I am honored to be a part of this sporting event being the first Olympic medalist in marathon swimming coming from our country. Through this initiative, we can attract young champions and great swimmers from all around the world towards marathon swimming, to enjoy this authentic route.”
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