According to the written works of Ancient Historians, Skyllias and his daughter Hydna, were the very first “marathon swimmers” to ever be acknowledged globally. The story of Skyllias and Hydna describes that after several admirable diving achievements the two historical figures were arrested in 480 B.C. by Persians that wanted to use the pair of proficient divers for an extensive exploration of underwater treasures from Ancient-Greek shipwrecks.

Subsequently, the historical swimmers realized that Persians planned on using them in an upcoming naval battle in Artemision, meaning that Skyllias and Hydna would have to face their Greek compatriots. After understanding the plan of the Persian forces, the Ancient-Greek heroes jumped into the sea, sliced the ropes from the anchors of Persian ships and started swimming towards Artemision in order to inform the Greek Naval Forces.

The historical achievements of Skyllias and Hydna have been recorded by Herodotus, “The Father of History”, who has praised them for their unique swimming ability and the importance of the information they offered to the Greeks, allowing the Naval Forces to prepare for their upcoming Naval Battles and their eventual triumph. Hence, in this way the first-ever ultra long-distance swim was recorded 2500 years ago, as Herodotus claimed that the two swimmers covered approximately 80 cables or 9 nautical miles.

On Saturday, July 2, 2022, at 08:15am the authentic 14.5km route “Skylias & Hydna” were held allowing swimmers from around the world to swim over the shipwrecks of the naval battle of Artemision that took place in 480 B.C., for the first time. The swimmers will cover 80 stadia, the equivalent of 14.5km.

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