Antonios Pepanos

Antonios Pepanos was a Greek swimmer who lived from 1866 to 1918 and took part in the first modern Olympic Games, held at Athens in 1896. He was a member of the sports club Gymnastiki Etaireia Patron, which merged with Panachaikos Gymnastikos Syllogos in 1923 to become Panachaiki Gymnastiki Enosi. Before the Games he hesitated about entering, because he was already thirty years old and past his prime, and on the day of the event he was suffering from a cold. He nevertheless competed in the 500 metres freestyle and finished second in 9:57.6, behind the Austrian winner Paul Neumann, who swam 8:12.6. That result won Pepanos the silver medal and placed him among the earliest Olympic medallists in swimming.