Super swimmer Spyros Chrysikopoulos became the first person to swim from Greece to Italy

31 hours and 50 minutes of continuous swimming
The total distance, as recorded by the Marathon Swimmers Federation’s tracking system, reached 91.4 kilometers and was completed in 31 hours and 50 minutes of continuous swimming. He himself declared the feat as the first time a person had managed to swim across the passage between the two countries.

The choice of this particular route was not accidental. Chrysikopoulos had already attempted the same crossing two years earlier, in the summer of 2024, starting from Othonoi and heading to Otranto, in the same area of ​​Lecce. That attempt had foundered in the open sea, when a swarm of jellyfish and the sudden deterioration of the weather, with strong winds and high waves, forced him to abandon before reaching his goal.

The strait between Othonoi and the Italian coast is considered one of the most demanding passages in the Mediterranean, both due to the currents and due to the exposure to the weather changes caused by the storms in the area. This year, two years after the failed attempt, the 43-year-old athlete returned to the same starting point and, according to the data he published, this time managed to complete the route to the end.

Chrysikopoulos is no stranger to ultra-swimming. In 2021, he had achieved his first Guinness World Record, covering 358.2 kilometers in one week, swimming non-stop in the indoor pool of the Olympic Stadium at OAKA, a distance that, as the crow flies, is roughly the distance from Athens to Mytilene.

A year later, in September 2022, he swam from Rhodes to Kastellorizo, a distance of 130 kilometers in a straight line, completing the feat in about 64 hours, facing difficult weather conditions that forced him to struggle especially on the second day. Last year, in the summer of 2025, he set a second Guinness World Record by swimming 151 kilometers in a swimming pool while staying awake for over 48 hours straight, achieving the goal just half an hour before the record time limit expired.

As part of his preparation and support, the athlete is usually accompanied by a team with a specialist doctor and a monitoring boat, which is not allowed to touch him according to the rules governing certified long-distance swimming crossings. His diet at such distances is mainly based on energy bars, fresh and dried fruit, as well as carbohydrates such as pasta and rice, while hydration is maintained with water and isotonic drinks with electrolytes. In his previous major projects he has described states of intense pain, but also moments of hallucinations due to overwork and prolonged insomnia.

The Othonoi-Santa Maria di Leuca crossing is now added to the list of great challenges that the Greek super swimmer has accomplished, who has repeatedly stated in the past that he is constantly seeking his personal limits of endurance, both physically and psychologically, through ventures that far exceed the usual standards of open water swimming.