Five of the six members of the swimmers who represented Greece in the European 25-a-side swimming championship in Kazan returned to Athens, “loaded” with five medals (two by Doutounaki, two by Vazaios and one by Christou).
Anna Doutounaki, Apostolos Christou, Maria – Thalia Drasidou, Dimitris Markos and George Spanoudakis arrived in Greece after the highly successful mission, while Andreas Vazaios traveled to London directly from Kazan.
The mission was welcomed at the airport by the president of KOE, Kyriakos Giannopoulos and the member of the BoD, Nikos Xylouris.
Welcoming the team, Mr. Giannopoulos gave to the athletes “Congratulations, I hope you continue your journey even stronger. Many congratulations to the coaches, but to the clubs that we must never forget. We have a new challenge ahead of us, the Abu Dhabi World Cup and I think we will be ready there too».
THE Nikos Ksilouris, he said: “The appearance was the most successful in the history of Greek swimming. They all outdid themselves. We … have an appetite for the World. 2022 has many events – challenges but I am sure that all the children, and those who were in Kazan, but also the rest who belong to the National team, will give their best again and will offer us new emotions and successes».
The head of the mission, Kelly Arauzou, pointed out: “I am extremely excited that from this point of view I now see our athletes winning medals and reaching our country high. Thank you so much for the support and for the love messages we received. We will try to do our best and help the children».
THE Anna Doutounaki, bwin Team Future champion, who won two medals (silver in the 100m butterfly and bronze in the 50m butterfly) said: “It was a special event as it followed the Olympics. For me it went very well, it was the absolute thing that I managed to get in both of my competitions, that is, a medal. I am glad that I have managed to reach this level. As a mission we all did very well, we set a national record and this is extremely important. Many thanks to my coach, my coach and the whole team we work with. I hope we have a good course in the future “.
Apostolos Christou, who won the 3rd place in the 100m. supine said: «I am very satisfied with my performance and the medal. But I am glad that the whole mission went very well, we all set a national record and achieved our goals. Now follows the world championship in December and I believe we will all be at a very good level».
THE Dimitris Markos, who participated in the 800m. free, he said: “I really enjoyed the event, I am glad that the Greek delegation did so well with five medals and a national record. Personally, I improved my time a lot, I made three national records and I am very satisfied».
THE Marilia Drasidou, participated in the semifinals of the 50m front said: “I am glad that I put my little stone in this successful mission and secured another opportunity in Abu Dhabi. I can’t wait for everything to go well there too. We thank our coaches very much. ”
THE George Spanoudakis stated after winning the seventh place in the 200m. mixed individual: “Individual records, one final and three semifinals. It was a very nice experience, a nice event and congratulations to all the children. “I am very happy and now I have a lot of work to do for the December World Cup.”
On behalf of the coaches, o Panagiotis Velentzas He said: “It was one of the best European championships that Greek swimming did, we gave our presence to a very big event with excellent performance and this shows that we have changed level and we can have high goals. Five medals, many national records, show that Greek swimmers can face their opponents on equal terms. “Congratulations to my colleagues, to the coaches, and I wish us a good continuation in Abu Dhabi.”
For his part, o Tasos Karabelas He said: “The mission was extremely successful, the children achieved national records, reached the semifinals, the finals, Andreas, Anna, Apostolis showed how great athletes are holding in their hands another medal from this pan-European championship. We continue hopefully “.
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