A new page in her personal journey and the rise of the Ionian is written by her 81-year-old lover surfing from Kefalonia, Anastasia Gerolymatou.
Unbelievable but true, at the time of writing these lines, full of vitality and appetite for life, Mr. Anastasia is preparing to make the crossing from Skala Kefalonia opposite Kyllini in an effort to win a bet she has made on herself over the last 41 years - that is, all the years she has been surfing.
A voyage of 18 nautical miles, lasting four hours, which she says she is not afraid of at all. "If I was afraid I would not even dare. Why should I go into such a process? I feel very confident in my arms and legs. I believe that if one is afraid, one does nothing in life ". Also, with this move she wants to send a resounding message of optimism, courage and determination to young and old.
She is very active on social media where she shares with her online friends moments "from my adventures at sea", as she writes, managing to impress with her energy and her love for life.
Newsbeast.gr, shortly before her new trip, talked to her. What he told us must surely make many of us reconsider our way of life.
- How did the idea for the Kefalonia-Kyllini crossing come about?
I am so happy all these years the trips I make with this cloth and this board, the power of the air that holds you and pulls you in the clear waters moves me so much and at some point I thought I could deliver this baton to young people with an example to do something and not sit so much in chairs drinking coffee. Not only the small and the big because I also started big.
- When did you learn surfing?
We were on holiday in Las Palmas and in the Atlantic Ocean I was given the opportunity to rent a surfboard from a German and try it. It was a bit of a rough experience, because I did not know how to go back and when a young man asked me how I would do it, he told me to come down and I would show it to you. And finally the cheater left and I had to swim to the nearest beach I found. And somehow after six years I managed to buy a surf too.
- Was there anyone in the family who did such a sport?
Nobody, I was just really a kid with a passion for what I did and who knows sometimes I wonder where one would go if one had the potential. Maybe I could be a good athlete if I had started earlier. But there was no opportunity with anything. Very little money, very few free hours. But it does not matter and now it is good!
- Έhave you studied anything? Did you work?
Unfortunately no. Imagine I left the island ten years ago. My parents sent me to Athens, they had arranged where I would go to work, to work abroad, as a domestic helper. At the age of fifteen I came back and after a month or two I left Kefalonia again. I first went to Athens, to a half-brother, and around the age of nineteen I found myself in Switzerland after writing a letter about an ad for young people for various jobs. For tidying rooms and buffets first and then as a cook. The original contract was for a period of six months but I finally stayed until today. Hard years but not as hard as on the island. Now I divide my time between Kefalonia and Switzerland.
- How many hours do you surf?
I go down to the beach and forget to go back.
- Are you scared at all?
Of course not, if I was afraid I would not even dare. Why go into such a process? I feel very confident in my arms and legs. I believe that if one is afraid, one does nothing in one's life.
- Where do you dedicate your effort?
I will dedicate my victory to the young children, to those who will go on with their lives because we are leaving later. And in my family to be remembered. My goal is also to help the children find a place to place a container so they can place their equipment and have a place to start doing it. sport their.