Apostolos Christou is a competitive swimmer who competes for Greece internationally.
2016 Olympic Games
At his first Olympics, Christou swam the 100 and 200 back as well as on the 4×100 medley relay. He placed 18th in the 100 (54.12), 24th in the 200 (1:59.78), and the relay placed 15th.
2018 Mediterranean Games
Christou brought home a serious medal haul from the 2018 Mediterranean games, including 2 golds (100 back, 4×100 medley relay), 1 silver (4×100 free relay), and 2 bronzes (50 back, 200 back).
2018 European Championships
In Glasgow, Christou secured his first major international medal, a bronze in the 100 back with a new personal best of 53.72. In the 200, he placed 5th overall, registering another personal best of 1:57.09 as well as a new Greek record.
2021 European Championships (Budapest, Hungary)
In Budapest, Christou tied with Yohann Ndoye Brouard of France for Bronze in the 100 back at 52.97 after going a PB of 52.77 in the semi-finals. He also placed 4th in the 50 back (24.59).
2024 Olympic Games (Paris, France)
Christou looked good in the 100 back, posting a 52.95 in prelims for 3rd. He improved that to a 52.77 in the semis to make his first Olympic finals in 6th. There, Christou turned 4th at the 50 with a 25.21 but despite out splitting Ryan Murphy with a 27.20, he ended up off the podium, just .02 back of Murphy’s bronze-worthy time.
Christou returned with a vengeance in the 200 back. He was 7th in prelims with a 1:57.18. He improved to 4th in the semis with a 1:56.33. That marked a new PB and retook the Greek record from Apostolos Siskos which was set earlier in the year. In the final, Christou was bold, taking out the race incredibly fast. He flipped in 26.39 at the 50, .6 ahead of the field. That widened to .75 at the 100 with a 28.75 split. The Hubert Kos made up some ground on the 3rd 50 as Christou split 29.22 but Christou led him by 1.02 seconds. With gold in his sights, Christou began to tighten up and Kos flew past him with a 28.88 split, 1.58 seconds faster than Christou’s 30.46. Despite dying pretty hard, Christou had built up enough of a lead that he held off the rest of the field, out touching Roman Mitykov by .03 seconds for the silver in 1:54.82, a huge PB for a 27 year old. That also was technically Greece’s first medal in pool swimming. Their last medal in swimming was silver from Spyros Gianniotis in the 10k and before that, at the inaugural Olympic Games in 1896, several Greeks medaled but the races were conducted in the Bay of Zea.
He also led off the Greek mixed 400 medley relay in a 52.83 but Greece failed to advance to the final.
