Crete Swim

17/09/2024

It was wonderful to swim between Plaka and Spinalonga with Petros Parthenis, who was vacationing in Crete from Athens, and he put together this terrific video for his YouTube channel. It shows clips from our swim to the island, as we walked around it, and Petros interviewed me too. At the end of the day, we feasted at a fantastic Italian restaurant near Plaka called Mavro Provato.

After the Plaka-Spinalonga swim (Artemisia's Swim in Chapter 3) we also drove south to Treis Ekklisies for the 700m westward swim to the spectacular caves (Chapter 4). He thought it was amazing, which is high praise since Petros has already visited very many beautiful swim spots all over Greece. I can't wait to show him more of my swims around Crete next summer!

Petros founded Weswim which welcomes people of all skill levels to swim at Vouliagmeni Beach near Athens all year around. I had a great time last summer when I visited Petros and met many WeSwimmers for their weekly Wednesday swim and also enjoyed a magical swim together at Cape Sounion. If you are ever visiting Athens, make sure to check out his website www.weswim.gr for events. In addition to swimming at Vouliagmeni, Petros organizes outstanding gastroswims which combine swimming with fine local dining!

Είμαι ο Πέτρος Παρθένης και αυτό είναι ένα ακόμα επεισόδιο της σειράς swimming hacks & tips.Μέσα από αυτό το κανάλι όπως οι περισσότεροι ήδη γνωρίζετε μοιρά...

03/09/2024

Here is the spectacular view after an 800m swim and a little climbing. I'm standing on a little islet opposite Xerokambos called Kavoloi which hosts Eleanora's falcon. This bird of prey spends its winter in Madagascar and then travels up to 9,000 km northward to breed on Crete. Amazing!

22/08/2024

Many thanks to Petros Parthenis for mentioning my guidebook on the SKAI TV program called Newsroom. Petros did a live interview about the importance of swimming for well-being, then talked about his 8K swim on the south coast of Crete, and graciously concluded that he was inspired by Crete Swim!

Petros and I have known each other since last June when I went to Athens and suggested that we swim together under the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion. He created Weswim and I highly recommend that swimmers check www.weswim.gr for their events, which include group swims once a week, as well as gastroswims, which are excursions around Greece to amazing swim locations that are also paired with excellent food and wine. Yum!

16/08/2024

We enjoyed swimming recently at Agios Ioannis, visiting a beautiful black-sand cove and a shipwreck at Agios Antonios beach.

This location, on the western side of the Asterousia mountain range, is not in my guidebook for swimmers because it's a difficult drive on a dirt road to get here, but if you go slowly most cars should be able to make it, and you'll feel like it was worth it once you get in the water!

For information on other swim spots like this one, see www.creteswim.com

13/08/2024

NBC News from California interviewed me in Paris during the women's 10K marathon open water event at the 2024 Olympics.

I noted that swimming in the strong current of the Seine River requires a navigation strategy which you can see in the video. In the upstream direction the athletes are hugging the riverbank where the current is weakest.

I illustrated this idea in a figure from Chapter 1 of Crete Swim. When swimming against the wind in Crete, it may be safer, faster and easier to hug the coastline even if the distance is greater.

For more detailed information on marine navigation for swimmers and places to swim on the Greek island of Crete, see www.creteswim.com

And here is a link to the NBC interview: https://www.kcra.com/article/paris-olympics-seine-river-marathon-swimming/61826286

03/08/2024

Chapter 4 describes a fun swim-run course at Agios Pavlos which I enjoyed recently.

It starts from the beach seen in the first frame with a clockwise swim for 1 km around a peninsula called Cape Melissa which on the other side has tall sand dunes. Along the way there's a large sea cave to explore as well.

The run part is a 100m dash up the sand dunes. Without footwear in the summer, you'll want to do this in the morning or late afternoon when the sand is cooler.

At the top I enjoyed a view of the sunset then walked back down (barefoot) to the starting beach which has a nice taverna for food and drink.

In my swimmer's guidebook I also recommend timing your visit for a magical full-moon night swim.
😃🏊

28/06/2024

This is the amazing Richtis Gorge and Waterfall from Chapter 3 of my guidebook for Crete:

“A 40-minute drive east of Mochlos will bring you to Richtis Waterfall, which has a lovely freshwater pool where you can take an invigorating dip. The elegance and harmony of the 20-m high waterfall is astonishing, as enjoyable and picturesque as any waterfall that I’ve visited on the Hawaiian Islands. The swims at Mochlos and Richtis fit nicely within a day, highlighting the diversity of Crete’s environments. In the Richtis Gorge you might find yourself surrounded by butterflies, which are Jersey tiger moths (Panaxia quadripunctaria). They look like white-striped tigers sitting still on a branch and then they magically transform into orange butterflies as they take to the air.”

For many more amazing swims on the Greek island of Crete see:
http://www.creteswim.com

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24/06/2024

I enjoyed a great weekend of open water swimming races in the beautiful town of Chania. I swam the 5K on Sunday while the other photos and video show the 2K on Saturday. The start and finish lines were at the port entrance opposite the famous lighthouse. For the 2K, 5K, and 10K the course turned westward towards Lazareta Island.

Everything for this OCEANMAN event was superbly organized by TRIMORE Sport Events and Constantinos Mitropapas.

I hope that participants booked extra days in Crete to enjoy many more swims all around the island using the swim routes from my guidebook. For more information see www.creteswim.com

09/06/2024

The "Green Coast” in my guidebook is this beautiful swimming area centered on Agia Pelagia which is a 30-minute drive west of Heraklion. I think it's clear from the video why I named it “Green"!

Cape Souda pictured here offers swimmers protection from the northwesterly winds and as you can see it's nice to swim butterfly in the marvelous pool-like conditions.

For information on this swim route and many others, see www.creteswim.com

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15/04/2024

I'm excited to swim the 5K at the open water races in Chania, Crete, June 21-23, organized by TRIMORE Sport Events and Constantinos Mitropapas.

The town of Chania is such a beautiful place too. The final sunset clip in this video shows the swim course westward and the likely northwesterlies that will be pushing swimmers towards the coastline.

To enjoy more than 20 hand-picked swim routes all around the island, see my guidebook at www.creteswim.com

Near Chania I have a nice 600m swim to a beautiful islet, a 350m swim through scenic fjords, and a 150m swim over a World War II shipwreck from the 1941 Battle of Crete. 😊