Greece is open! And here are 2 incredible races to get you motivated.

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2027

So come and check out a couple of the first races in the post-Covid era!  They will be amazing!

As of July 1, 2020, Greece is opening up again.  And there will be a GSS favorite and a new classic… that was 2,500 years in the making!

The Santorini Experience is back for another year, on Oct 2-4, 2020, on this Greek island, famous for its beauty and tourism.

Following several highly successful years, Greece’s biggest tourist sporting event is opening its gates to professional and amateur athletes, challenging them to try out their running and/or swimming skills.

The open water swim is a 1.5 mile (2.4km) race, with a separate wetsuit division. Swimmers will have the opportunity to test their abilities swimming from the volcano to the old port of Fira.  An incredibly spectacular and beautiful swim.

The swim route was designed by the Federal Technical Swimming Coach of Olympic and World Champion medalists, Nikos Gemelos. Silver Olympic medalist and World Champion, Spiros
Gianniotis, British twice silver Olympic medalist at the Rio Olympics in 2016, Jazz Carlin,
Japanese Olympic Champion at Rio, Yasunari Hirai, Hungarian recognized swimmer and
member of the International Marathon Swimming Hall of Fame (IMSHOF), Attila Manyoki
and great names of the Greek national swimming team, such as World Champion in open
water swimming, Kelly Araouzou, along with plenty of leading athletes like Antonis Fokaidis,
Giorgos Arniakos and Dimitris Negris have enjoyed “Santorini Experience” toο.

For those who prefer running, the are also three different races too, a 5k, 10k and 15k.  And if 10k or 15k doesn’t seem all that hard, take a look at the pictures and video.  To say it is a “hilly” route is a bit of an understatement!  It will make you glad you are a swimmer!

For swimmers looking for a stunning swimming destination combined with some unique ancient history, the The Authentic Marathon Swim  swim should be top of the list. It will take place on Sept 4-6, 2020.

According to the written works of Ancient Historians, Skyllias and his daughter Hydna, were the very first “marathon swimmers” to ever be acknowledged globally.

The story of Skyllias & Hydna says that after several admirable diving achievements the two historical figures were arrested in 480 B.C. by Persians that wanted to use the pair of proficient divers for an extensive exploration of underwater treasures from ancient Greek shipwrecks.

Subsequently, the historical swimmers realized that Persians planned on using them in an upcoming naval combat in Artemision. They wanted Skyllias and Hydna to face their Greek compatriots in battle. But after understanding the Persian plan the ancient Greek heroes jumped into the sea, sliced the ropes from the anchors of Persian ships and started swimming towards Artemision in order to warn the Greek naval forces. The historical achievements of Skyllias and Hydna were recorded by Herodotus, “The Father of History”, who paised them for their unique swimming ability and the importance of the information they gave to the Greeks to prepare for their upcoming naval battles and their eventual triumph.

Hence, the first-ever ultra long-distance swim was recorded 2500 years ago, as Herodotus claimed that the two swimmers covered approximately 80 cables, or 9 nautical miles/16.6 km.

In honour of these first long-distance swimmers, the “The Authentic Marathon Swim” event will take place in the straits of Artemision – the very location of the historical naval battle between the Greek and Persian forces.

The event includes open water swimming races of 10km, 3km, 1.5km and an 800m race for kids. It will be held at Pefki, Evia in the Municipality of Istiaia-Edipsos.

As with many of the successful races in the GSS “Santorini Experience” and “Authentic
Marathon Swim” are events that have the full support of the local government and are held
with the approval of the Hellenic Swimming Federation following FINA’s regulations. This
means the whole community really gets into the swimming and running, and the place takes on a fun festival event, on top of the fun that a beautiful Greek vacation already includes!

Start making plans for these races, they will be an incredible sports vacation! And a way to
get your swimming motivation back!