The Authentic Marathon Swim Skyllias & Hydna

From Openwaterpedia

The Authentic Marathon Swim Skyllias & Hydna is a sea swimming competition held in the straits of Artemision in Greece, part of the UltraMarathon Swim Series.

Authentic Marathon Swim Courses

Authentic Marathon Swim Video

Location

Artemisium or Artemision (Greek: Ἀρτεμίσιον) is a cape in northern Euboea, Greece. The legendary hollow cast bronze statue of Zeus, or possibly Poseidon, known as the Artemision Bronze, was found off this cape in a sunken ship. The Battle of Artemisium, a series of naval engagements over three days during the second Persian invasion of Greece in 480 BC, simultaneously with the more famous land battle at Battle of Thermopylae, took place here. The Battle of Artemisium, or Battle of Artemision was fought between an alliance of Greek city-states, including Sparta, Athens, Corinth and others, and the Persian Empire of Xerxes I.

The Persian invasion was a delayed response to the defeat of the first Persian invasion of Greece, which had been ended by the Athenian victory at the Battle of Marathon. King Xerxes had amassed a huge army and navy, and set out to conquer all of Greece. The Athenian general Themistocles proposed that the Allied Greeks block the advance of the Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae and simultaneously block the Persian navy at the Straits of Artemisium. An Allied naval force of 271 triremes was thus dispatched to await the arrival of the Persians.

Approaching Artemisium towards the end of summer, the Persian navy was caught in a gale off the coast of Magnesia and lost around a third of their 1200 ships. After arriving at Artemisium, the Persians sent a detachment of 200 ships around the coast of Euboea in an attempt to trap the Greeks, but these were caught in another storm and shipwrecked. The main action of the battle took place after two days of smaller engagements. The two sides fought all day, with roughly equal losses; however, the smaller Allied fleet could not afford the losses.

After the engagement, the Allies received news of the defeat of the Allied army at Thermopylae. Since their strategy required both Thermopylae and Artemisium to be held, and given their losses, the Allies decided to withdraw to Salamis. The Persians overran and gained control over Phocis, then Boeotia, and finally entered Attica where they captured the now-evacuated Athens. However, seeking a decisive victory over the Allied fleet, the Persians were later defeated at the Battle of Salamis in late 480 BC. Fearing being trapped in Europe, Xerxes withdrew with much of his army to Asia, leaving Mardonius to complete the conquest of Greece. The following year, however, saw an Allied army decisively defeat the Persians at the Battle of Plataea, thereby ending the Persian invasion.

2021 World Open Water Swimming Event of the Year Nomination

The race was nominated for the 2021 World Open Water Swimming Event of the Year Award. The winners and nominees included:

Winner: Maratona del Golfo Capri-Napoli (Italy)
First Runner-up: Irish Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming (Ireland)
Second Runner-up: Mediterranean Peace Route (Cyprus-Turkey)
4. Authentic Marathon Swim (Greece)
5. Asociación Mexicana de Aguas Abiertas (Mexico)
6. Tampa Bay Frogman Swim (USA)
7. Strait of Bonifacio (Italy-France)
8. Around-Coronado Swim (USA) tie
8. DC Marathon Swim (USA) tie
10. Olympic 10K Marathon Swim (Japan)
11. Rottnest Channel Swim (Australia)
12. Wörthersee Swim Austria (Austria)
13. Race For The Conch Eco-SeaSwim (Turks & Caicos)
14. Trans Tahoe Relay (USA)
15. Perhentian Island Marathon Swim (Malaysia)

2022 UltraMarathon Swim Series Events

It is part of the inaugural 2022 UltraMarathon Swim Series:

External links

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