Apostolos Siskos has claimed the first gold medal of his career at the European U23 Swimming Championships, currently underway in Samorin, Slovakia.
The 20-year-old Greek swimmer lived up to expectations as the favourite in the 200m backstroke, finishing first with ease in 1:55.84, well off his remarkable 1:54.66 from last month in Thessaloniki, which remains the second-best time globally this year.
Siskos, who had previously won silver at the 2023 European Championships and bronze at the Junior Championships, finally stood at the top of the podium. On both previous occasions, he was beaten by Ukraine’s Oleksandr Zheltiakov, who this time settled for silver with 1:57.34.
Just minutes later, Greece celebrated a second medal, as Georgia Damasioti secured silver in the 100m butterfly with a time of 58.06. The Oceanus Club athlete followed Belgian swimmer Roos Vanotterdijk, who won gold with 57.10. The duo repeated their 1-2 finish from last year’s European Championships in Belgrade.
Britain’s Lucy Grieve rounded out the podium with a time of 58.71.
The opening day of competition closed with another proud moment for Greece, as the mixed 4x100m medley relay team clinched bronze and set a new national youth record.
The team clocked in at 3:48.54, narrowly missing gold in a thrilling finish behind Poland (3:48.25) and Great Britain (3:48.27). Their time shattered the previous Greek youth record of 3:52.00 set in the qualifiers.
Meanwhile, at the European Junior Artistic Swimming Championships held at the OAKA open-air pool in Athens, Greece earned its first medal in the technical solo final.
Ismini Karavasili took bronze with a score of 227.4000. The gold went to Russia’s Valeria Plechanova (competing independently) with 236.0250, while Spain’s Isabel Xuang Tsui Shu won silver with 234.3525. Karavasili narrowly edged out France’s Romane Sarah Temessek, who scored 226.1158.
The championships continue, with Greece already showing strong form across multiple disciplines.
