ATHENS – Pastra Cretonaxiosa, the first Greek swimming team to cross the Channel, was welcomed at the Presidential Mansion on Wednesday by Greek President Prokopios Pavlopoulos, ANA reports.
At an event recognizing outstanding achievements of the past year, Pavlopoulos congratulated the team for providing a model of serving others. The team, which raises scholarship funds by attending swimming competitions, is fulfilling a valuable role, Pavlopoulos noted, including “solidarity to human beings, something we are currently missing.”
Speaking on behalf of the team, swimmer Evgenia Tzannini said the members’ dream was “to help children of remote islands and to create a family of scholarship recipients who may in turn help these areas.”
Pastra Cretonaxia began when three friends decided to swim their first race, the Spetses Marathon. They eventually acquired a coach, Sotiris Pastras, established their name and swam their first race under their new name at Bosphorus in 2015.
The team then grew by another four members, who decided to swim together the English Channel, one of the toughest crossings in the world.
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