The Skandalopetra Inter Games have officially started yesterday, July 16, in the port of Karpathos island. Greek and foreign athletes will participate in the event, which is dedicated to the memory of Stathis Hatzis. So far, 15 people have registered for the games, among whom the famous Czech divers Bavon Michel, Pietr Dokin and the Greek champion Hronis Hlitsios. Registrations will remain open today for any potential participants.
A small ceremony for the public to meet the athletes was also held yesterday at 9 p.m., at ‘Island Pool Bar Restaurant’.
Karpathos is a small island in the Dodecanese, in the southeastern Aegean sea, famous for its exotic beaches, its beautiful, mountainous landscapes, its graphic villages, and its strong winds that have traditionally attracted windsurfers from all over the world.
Back in the summer of 1913, an Italian battleship, ‘Regina Margarita’, in its effort to moor in the port of Karpathos, lost its anchor in a depth of approximately 80 meters. The captain ordered some of his men to dive and drag it up. They all failed.
Stathis Hatzis was a sponge diver from the island of Kalymnos - one of the most famous. The Karpathians informed the captain of the ship about him, and he sailed to find him. He did, and Hatzis accepted the challenge. He came to Karpathos and dived deep into the sea, while holding a big rock in his hands. He reached a depth of around 77 meters, found the anchor and tied it to a rope, so that the crew could retrieve it.
The rock that helped him dive was a famous ‘skandalopetra’ or ‘kabanelopetra’ - a stone that weights 8-14 kgs, usually made of marble or granite, with rounded corners and hydrodynamic shape, tied on the diver’s hand with a thin cord. This rock was necessary for divers from the time of the ancient Greeks until the 1960s, when the diving industry discovered new ways for better and safer diving.
103 years later, Stathis Hatzis is still holding the Greek record in skandalopetra diving - until today. Because on Monday, Karpathos will welcome to its port famous divers from all over the world, in an effort to break the old records and set new ones. Hronis Hlitsios has actually already broken, unofficially, the 77-meters mark, by diving in a depth of 78 meters, during his training session yesterday.
The Skandalopetra Inter Games are held every year, but for the first time in Karpathos, 18 years after they first took place in Kalymnos. The event will be held until Tuesday, July 19, but the competitive part will start on Monday. The games are open to the public and not only to professional divers, meaning that everyone interested can participate, regardless of previous experience.
Finally, today at 7 p.m., at the waiting room of ‘Limani’ coffee shop, at the port, the coordinators of the event will present and analyze the sport, its history and its technical details. Also, during this presentation, the president of the Samos Divers Association, Alexandros Malagaris, will intervene and inform the public about the “experience of rescuing immigrants-refugees in the sea area of Samos”.
