Olympic Medalist Apostolos Christou Posts 52.51 100 Back To Conclude Acropolis Swim Open

2025 ACROPOLIS SWIM OPEN

• Friday, May 2nd – Sunday, May 3rd
• Athens, Greece
• LCM (50m)
• SwimSwam Preview
• Meet Central
• Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
• Results

The 2025 Acropolis Swim Open concluded last night in Athens with a €50,000  ($54,125) prize pool on the line.

Athletes’ performance was judged using the World Aquatics Point Scoring system, and they could also earn prize bonuses for breaking records. The top athletes across events (by stroke, and then by longer distances) were awarded €350. Coach’s awards were awarded by points compiled across their athletes.

The competition also represented an opportunity for swimmers to qualify for this summer’s World Championships in Singapore.

Top Female Swimmers

1. Anna Ntountounaki
2. Georgia Damasioti
3. Nora Drakou
4. Nicole Maier

Top Male Swimmers

1. Apostolos Christou
2. Dimitrios Markos
3. Apostolos Siskos
4. Stergios-Marios Bilas

Day 3 Highlights

Olympic medalist Apostolos Christou was in the water on the final day, contesting the men’s 100m backstroke.

28-year-old Christou turned in a time of 52.51 to beat the field by over 2 seconds en route to gold and a new competition record.

Mexico’s Ruiz Najera was next to the wall in 54.88 while Filippos Andriadakis rounded out the podium in 55.66.

Christou split 25.28/27.23, logging the fifth-swiftest time of his career, one which boasts a lifetime best of 52.09 from the 2022 World Championships.

He easily cleared the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard of 53.94 needed for Singapore and now checks in as the 6th-best performer in the world on the season.

After the meet concluded, Christou told the Greek Swimming Federation, “I thank the people who stayed until the last race, I dedicate this race record to them, because we want to inspire the young kids.

“Now I have a different approach, my final in the 100m backstroke at the Olympic Games was not a mistake, it was just not enough, so I’m looking to improve.

“My goal at the world championships in Singapore is to be just as competitive, maybe even more, to improve my records and once I do my job properly, the result will be proportional. If I don’t make any mistakes and I have proper management, the podium in Singapore is definitely my goal.”

21-year-old Georgia Damasioti posted the 3rd sub-2:10 200m fly performance of her career as she topped the podium last night.

Damasioti’s time of 2:09.91 set her apart from Lana Pudar and Amina Kajtaz, two Bosnian & Herzegovinian swimmers.

Pudar, a University of Virginia commit, settled for silver in 2:11.95 and Kajtaz was the bronze medalist in 2:13.74.

Damasioti’s effort fell short of the ‘A’ standard of 2:09.21 needed for Singapore, however.

Although no competitor among the men’s 200m breaststroke field registered a World Championships-worthy time, the runner-up did log a new Greek Age Record.

Behind winner Doruk Yogurtcuoglu of Turkey, 16-year-old Greek swimmer Evangelos Ntoumas posted a time of 2:11.99 to set the new mark.

Savvas Thomoglou rounded out the podium in 2:12.57.

Ntoumas held the former national age record at 2:12.28 and his result this evening qualifies him for the World Junior Championships.

Additional Notes

• Kalia Antoniou of Cyprus dove in for the women’s 50m free and soared to the wall first in an outing of 25.12. That garnered her the gold narrowly ahead of Theodora Drakou‘s time of 25.19 and Anna Ntountounaki‘s effort of 25.20. Antoniou is her nation’s record holder, courtesy of the 24.94 registered at the 2022 World Championships.
• No male competitor dipped under the 22-second barrier in the 50m free, with host nation swimmer Stergios-Marios Bilas striking gold in 22.16. That was within striking distance of the 22.05 World Aquatics ‘A’ cut. His lifetime best remains at the 21.73 put up last year for silver at the European Championships.
• The men’s 200m fly saw Apostolos Siskos double up on his 200m backstroke victory from earlier in the competition. 19-year-old Siskos stopped the clock at 1:57.87 to eke out the win over Turkey’s Polat Turnali who was a hair behind in 1:57.88. Tuncer Erturk, also of Turkey, landed on the podium in 1:58.35 as the bronze medalist.