GNTO Shows its Support to Sports Tourism in Greece

The winner of The Authentic Marathon Swim 2020 is Bulgarian Olympic Champion Petar Stoychev (middle). From left: Deputy Sports Minister Lefteris Avgenakis, GNTO President Angela Gerekou, Istiaia-Edipsos Mayor Ioannis Kontzias and Central Greece Governor Fanis Spanos.

“The Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO) strongly supports sports and cultural tourism,” the organization’s president, Angela Gerekou, said during The Authentic Marathon Swim 2020, a new sports tourism event that took place recently on the island of Evia.

Held under the auspices of the GNTO, the event took place in the area of Pefki in the Municipality of Istiaia-Edipsos during September 4-6 and included three open water swimming races of 10km, 3km and 1.5km.

The GNTO’s president and Istiaia-Edipsos Mayor Ioannis Kontzias jointly kicked off the sports event, which revived the historic authentic route that ancient athlete Skyllias and his daughter Idna followed in their effort to support the fleet of the Greek city-states during the naval battle of Artemision against the Persian Empire in 480 B.C.

Vicky Kouveli was announced winner in the women’s race.

Applauding the organization of The Authentic Marathon Swim, Gerekou said the event connected history with legend and culture with sports.

“The GNTO supports and promotes sports tourism through its offices abroad, the visitgreece portal and social media,” she added.

World champion in open water swimming Spyros Gianniotis and Angela Gerekou.

Gerekou also attended the event’s award ceremony, the prizes of which included an olive branch from the 2,500-year-old olive tree located in the ancient settlement of Artemision. It is considered to be among the oldest olive trees in the world.

According to an announcement, The Authentic Marathon Swim event was attended by hundreds of world-class athletes from Greece and abroad.