Sport has no age limit, as Nikos Skiathitis proves. The Voliotis, who glorified Greece in 2004, on Saturday 1 October will row from Volos to Skopelos on the occasion of the Panhellenic School Sports Day and through «ThtD» he sends his own message to all of us.
Ready for another great project is the Nikos Skiathitis. The 2004 Olympic bronze medalist will row from Volos to Skopelos on the occasion of the celebration of the Panhellenic School Sports Day on 3 October. The veteran rower will start on the morning of Saturday 1/10 and aims to cover a distance of 52 nautical miles, equivalent to 95 kilometres, in 16 hours.
At the same time, he wants to get the message across that anyone, even at 41, can do sport and achieve high goals, as long as they really want to. The project will be carried out with the cooperation of NOBA, the National Olympic Academy, the President of the Special Forces Club Vassilis Iliopoulos and a volunteer.
The Municipality of Skopelos will also make an important contribution, as it has prepared a special programme for Monday 3 October. In the large square of the port, Nikos Skiathitis will refer to Olympism and sport, carrying with him the 2004 bronze medal and the Olympic torches, while the Trikala cycling champion Dimitris Georgalis will also speak. In addition, Vassilis Iliopoulos will give a lecture and then demonstrate CPR, first aid and defibrillator. The audience will be the students and their parents, who will get useful information through the dialogue that will follow with the three distinguished guests.
Nikos Skiathitis stresses in «THD: «On the occasion of the Panhellenic Day of School Sports which is on October 3, the project is dedicated to the island of Skopelos. It will be done with the cooperation of the National Olympic Academy, which is based in Athens and is a branch of the Olympic Committee. I thought as a now veteran rowing athlete, one day before the Panhellenic School Sports Day, I would like to carry out a challenge, which is to row from the coast of NOB in Volos to Skopelos, a total of 52 nautical miles (95 kilometres).
The project will be done with my own dinghy, which has an all-weather coastal hull. I will be accompanied by the president of the Special Forces Club of Magnesia, Vassilis Iliypoulos, who will supervise the route for safety reasons with his floating boat and a volunteer colleague of mine who will deal with nutrition issues. If the conditions are ideal we estimate that the required time of the route will be around 16 hours.
The project involves continuous paddling with only a few breaks without going ashore of course. The breaks will be short and often I will not stop rowing, but I will do it at a slow pace, because the body only performs best when it is warm. It goes without saying that I will not sleep at all.
The only inhibiting factor may be the weather. That is, if there is a ban, I will not row, because the main concern is first and foremost the safety of all of us. If we have western weather, we're screwed. But if we have a southerly or easterly wind and it reaches, say, 5 Beaufort, it starts to get really difficult.
The start will be given on Saturday morning from the facilities of NOVA and the finish will be in Skopelos. If my arrival is after 9am perhaps I will be given a welcome. This of course depends on the speed with which I cover the distance».
However, it is not the first time that the Olympic bronze medalist has been subjected to such a test, which in sports terminology is called «challenge» and he always has a specific reason for doing so, as he points out:
«In the two tests I have done I have always set a goal. On September 2, 2017, I did the Pagasitikos Tour with a distance of 110 kilometres in 15 hours to support the Flame. The following year in April a much longer route was done for the Flame, from Volos to Schinias in Athens. In total it lasted three days, as I had to travel 325 kilometres. Vassilis Iliopoulos was with me again and we divided it into three 12-hour days to avoid night sailing for safety reasons without going ashore.
This time I wanted to combine it with the National School Sports Day. This year's project is dedicated to Skopelos. However, I have an additional purpose. I want to prove that a 41-year-old athlete like me can do sports even in difficult conditions. There is a way, there is a method as long as he wants it. He will have unique experiences.
That is why I am stepping forward to create a «branch» in rowing and not only have sprint races, but also long distance races. In Greece this does not exist, but abroad there are such races, the largest of which is the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, a distance of 3,000 miles and a duration of about 35 days. Of course there is also coastal rowing, but again it has to do with sprinting. I would love to see long-distance coastal rowing races in the future. I have already been in contact with various players in the sport, but we are still at the beginning.
I think that long distances are suitable for older people and it's an opportunity for them to get involved in sport’.
In closing, the great Volian champion of the past wanted to thank those who are at his side. «I would like to thank the Volos and Argonauts Naval Club, where I belong, the Special Forces Club of Magnesia, the Municipality of Skopelos, the National Olympic Academy, as well as the sponsors who support this effort financially. It is very important for me and for the message I want to send and I hope that it will be heard...».
