Spyros Chrysikopoulos has become the first person on record to swim from Greece to Italy. The Greek ultra-swimmer covered 91.4 kilometres of open sea in 31 hours and 50 minutes. He swam without stopping from start to finish.
From the edge of Greece to the heel of Italy
He set off on 31 August 2026 from Othonoi. The island lies in the Diapontia Islands and is the westernmost point of Greece. He reached Santa Maria di Leuca on Italy's Salento peninsula on 1 September.
The route crosses the Strait of Otranto in the Ionian Sea. Chrysikopoulos faced strong currents there. The weather also kept shifting during the long hours in the water.
The 43-year-old stayed in the sea through the whole crossing. No one before him had completed the swim from Greece to Italy. The attempt was documented by the Marathon Swimmers Federation, a non-profit group that records unaided long-distance swims in open water.
A second chance after a hard defeat
This was not his first try. In 2024, Chrysikopoulos set out on the same crossing. High winds, heavy seas and jellyfish forced him to give up.
Many swimmers would have let the idea go after that. He did not. Two years later he came back better prepared. This time the sea let him through, and he finished the route he could not complete before.
Why it matters
Marathon swimming is a lonely sport. There are no crowds in the middle of the sea. There is only the swimmer, the water and the hours that pass slowly.
Nearly 32 hours is a long time to keep moving in open water. Chrysikopoulos kept going through the night and into the next day. He turned a failed attempt into a first in the history of the sport.
His name is now attached to a crossing that had never been finished. Any swimmer who tries it next will measure themselves against 91.4 kilometres and 31 hours and 50 minutes.
