Apostolos Siskos Hits Greek 200 Back Record 1:54.66 For #1 In The World

94th NATIONAL GREEK CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Friday, May 16th – Monday, May 19th
• Thessaloniki, Greece
• LCM (50m)
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Results

Day three of the 94th National Greek Championships unfolded last night from Thessaloniki with a national record being broken on the men’s side.

Racing in the final of the 200m backstroke, 19-year-old Apostolos Siskos ripped a lifetime best of 1:54.66 to beat the field by over 2 seconds en route to gold.

Siskos split 56.02/58.64 to get to the wall first, defeating Olympic medalist Apostolos Christou in the process.  Christou settled for silver in 1:57.08 while Apostolos Papastamos produced 1:58.76 for bronze.

Entering this competition, Siskos’ career-swiftest performance rested at the 1:55.18 notched just last month at the Giant Open. That performance was comprised of splits of 56.91/58.27.

As for the Greek national record, the prior benchmark stood at the 1:54.82 Christou put up as he captured silver at last year’s Olympic Games.

Therefore, Sisko’s 1:54.66 result here would have made the teen the Olympic silver medalist, just a hair behind gold medalist Hubert Kos of Hungary’s gold medal-winning effort of 1:54.26.

Christou has already qualified for the World Championships in this event due to that Paris performance, while Siskos further solidified his slot on the roster with his monster new record.

Siskos’ result here now puts him atop the world rankings on the season, dethroning Kos.

Post-race, Siskos told the Greek Swimming Federation, “It really is a year that I did not expect the scoreboard to write.

“This is the magic of sports. Many congratulations to Apostolos who helped me overcome myself and manage to have a very good race together. I have not realized what has happened, it is very positive for the future. Head down, hard work, for the best to come. I think I learned to manage my stress and believe in myself. Greece is now a very important force abroad.”

Additional Notes

• Dimitrios Markos made it happen for gold in the men’s 400m free, producing a time of 3:48.13 as the sole swimmer of the field to delve under the 3:50 threshold. His time was enough to dip under the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard of 3:48.15 by a slim .02. Markos is the national record holder in this event, courtesy of the 3:47.44 put on the books when he earned silver at last year’s European Championships.
• 29-year-old Anna Ntountounaki had a battle on her hands in the women’s 100m fly but the veteran pulled out the win in 57.27, a new season best and the 2nd best performance of her career. Her time here was only .02 outside the Greek national record of 57.25 she registered at the 2020 Olympic Games. Georgia Damasioti was right behind Ntountounaki in the race, putting up a strong showing of 57.50 to also qualify for the World Championships. That represents a new personal best for the 21-year-old, overtaking her previous PB of 57.74 logged en route to becoming the silver medalist at last year’s European Championships.