Greece’s Apostolos Siskos Has Emerged as Major Backstroke Threat
It is not very common to see a Greek swimmer at the top of the world rankings in any event, but that’s where 19-year-old Apostolos Siskos sits in the 200-meter backstroke. And 2025 might just be the start of major achievements to come.
The year after an Olympic Games can be a bit strange. Swimmers retire and take breaks. Others, however, take the opportunity further establish themselves, or break through to another level. While Siskos has enjoyed high level success in recent years, his name is now becoming more familiar to fans of the sport.
Born and raised in Serres, a city of 70,000 with only one long-course pool, Siskos moved to Thessaloniki when he was 12 years old. Initially trained by Aris Thessaloniki, Siskos broke several junior national records before advancing to the semifinals of the 200 backstroke at the 2023 World Championships. Afterward, he signed with the Stars Swim Academy and started training under the guidance of Stefanos Zafeiriadis.
In 19 months with Zafeiriadis, Siskos has dropped from 1:56.79 to 1:54.66 in the 200 backstroke. He posted his world-leading time of 1:54.66 at the Greek National Championships, reaching the wall in the final before Olympic silver medalist, Apostolos Christou. The performance was also good for a national record, Christou’s former standard a 1:54.82 from the final at the Paris Olympics. Before the Nationals, Siskos went 1:55.18 at the Giant Open in Paris, which was the fastest time in the world at that point of the season. Now the only one who have posted a faster time is Jack Aikins with 1:54.25.
Siskos will turn 20 a few days before the European U23 Swimming Championships, where he will pursue the first gold medal of his career. He studies physiotherapy and spends hours on the road on a daily basis to train mornings and evenings. Balancing his studies at the International Hellenic University and his training isn’t easy, since his school and training location are on opposite sides of the city.
At the Olympic Games last summer, Siskos was 14th in the 200 backstroke, but the experience was valuable. This summer, following the European U23 Championships, the Greek standout will focus on the World Championships in Singapore. At the 2024 World Champs in Doha, Siskos finished sixth in the 200 backstroke. Since then, he has become the European silver medalist in the event. He will not swim besides Christou in Singapore, with Christou focusing on the 50 backstroke and 100 backstroke.
Having experience from previous World Championships and the Olympic Games, the key for Siskos’ summer success is to maintain his nerves while racing against other elite backstrokers. If he can master the mental game, the talent certainly exists for Siskos to stand on the podium in Singapore.