Where are they now – Vasileios Polymeros

Crossing the line in third isn’t always the call for huge celebrations but for Vasileios Polymeros and Nikolaos Skiathitis there was no holding back. The media of the world displayed a sobbing Polymeros with Skiathitis sporting a grin as wide as the Schinias waters.

The duo had just won Greece’s first ever Olympic medal in rowing and they had done it in front of a home crowd at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

“During the last 500 meters, me and Skiathitis made a huge push and overtook the Danish crew, clinching the bronze in front of a massive home crowd.

“When we won the bronze medal, the Greek fans cheered for us. We got out of the boat and all the volunteers came to the pontoon to congratulate us. I went to the grandstand to find my family and there I met all Greek fans celebrating like crazy. It was an amazing time and I felt that we gave so much happiness to all these people,” says Polymeros. “That is more important than the medal itself!”

That was 25 years ago and that bronze medal can be seen as the opening of the doors to Hellenic rowing.

Since then a lot has changed. There’s been more success for Greece at the Olympics culminating in an Olympic gold at the Tokyo Olympics. Greece has since won five Olympic medals.

Polymeros’ start in rowing was at high school when a coach gave a presentation about the sport.

“Before that, I had tried basketball – Greece had won the European Championship in 1987 and, like many kids, I wanted to be a basketball player. After the rowing presentation, 30 students from my school signed up. After two years, only my best friend and I were still there. A couple of years later I was the only one left from that original group.”

Driven by setting one goal after another Polymeros continued in the sport, setting bigger goals as he progressed. He raced the Balkan championships, then got selected for Greece’s junior team, then the Under-23s. Polymeros then set his sights on the Olympic Games. He made his first Olympics in 1996 racing in the lightweight double with Ioannis Kourkourikis at Atlanta. They finished in the middle of the B-final pack.  Polymeros was just 22 years old.

At the Sydney Olympics, Polymeros was paired with Panagiotis Miliotis and the duo improved Olympic placings by two finishing second in the B-final.

Two years before the Athens Olympics, Polymeros paired up with Skiathitis. They started regularly appearing in the A-final. Their Olympic bronze medal was their best result and only medal together.

After Skiathitis retired Polymeros was paired with Dimitrios Mougios and together they won silver at the Beijing Olympics. A year later Polymeros retired.

“I retired at the age of 33 because I felt that I could no longer push myself physically as before,” says Polymeros. “It was actually easy for me to retire, because after so many years in rowing I felt “full” with my career and satisfied with what I had achieved.”

Polymeros has remained in Athens and has stayed involved in rowing helping his wife coach at the local club and then joining the council of the Greek Rowing Federation as manager of the development programme. He has two daughters and serves as a Commander in the Hellenic Coast Guard. He is currently President of the Greek Rowing Federation.

In Greece, Polymeros’ name remains strongly associated with rowing and with two Olympic medals remains the most successful.