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Emanuela Karastoyanova

Everything about the benefit of swimming has already been said and written. Besides being a wonderful way to relax, it has extremely beneficial effects on human body. It exercises the heart, lungs, corrects the blood circulation, gently exercises the joints and strengthens muscles of the body. This sport provides physical and mental pleasure, because movement in the water is a balm for the body and soul. Swimming helps the general health condition of the people, and the effect of only a few lengths swam can be compared with 1 hour aerobics. According to research in this sport are spend 25% more calories than in others.

Swimming strengthens the walls of the veins and restores the elasticity of blood vessels. If women swim regularly they reduces the risk of osteoporosis by 50%. Many more things can be listed to prove that this is the best sport to make you fit. And what more can happen if it is carried out in seawater. Sea treatment or thalassotherapy is a popular method of treatment for many problems. Seawater assisted with respiratory diseases, skin diseases, allergies, susceptibility to infectious diseases, etc.

Thus, countries like Greece, surrounded by three seas and with length of the coastline of 13,676 kilometers can be considered blessed. Scattered into numerous parts, it has more than 2500 islands, 165 of which are inhabited. The benefits of swimming have been evaluated highly even by the ancient Greeks. Once upon a time those who were not able to swim Plato considered uneducated. According to him such people deserved to be contempt, as through his eyes it seemed they were afraid to face challenges. There are hardly any people like this in Greece today. The sea is an integral part of everybody’s life.

I meet Jenny, resident of Athens and mother of two children so that she can tell me again, this time officially, about her love for swimming and the sea. I’ve known the woman for several years and every time I see her I get my peace. I am not saying "relief" because I do not solve problems with her. I am talking about that kind of peace that can stay deep in the soul of man, like a cliff in the sea. And like a rock it resists the waves of the sea. In this case of life. Because like all people she is also a "student" in its class. She writes with chalk on the blackboard and reads haltingly... anecdote after anecdote. And yet she is somehow different. Sunny and truly cheerful. She  brings the kind of light that one can only gather around the shores of the sea. While she’s gathering sea shells, swimming or buildding castles in the sand. Today, Jenny told me that she is actually 64 years old. Her appearance suggests otherwise. Look at the picture and think about it...

I have been swimming ever since I was born

I have been swimming ever since I was born. I was born in Piraeus and the sea was under our house. I learned how to swim at once. My godfather threw me into the sea and... I had no choice. Everything was a joke, of course. Now the sea is my life. It is incredibly beautiful. I feel I am another person when I'm near it.

I always swim with other people. I do not like lonely beaches

After I moved from Piraeus, we lived with my family in Palyo Faliro. There we built our house, there our children were born. We lived near Flisvos. While living there I swam all the time. All the residents of this region are engaged in swimming. Now, however the beaches have changed, they are polluted and I’m visiting Vulyagmeni. I choose places where you can take a bath, to refresh after a long swim in order to relax for a bit on the sun beds. I like to have control over things, so I do not swim in remote, lonely areas. And I always go with a company. These are usually people of my age.

Swim whenever I have time

If the weather is nice I try to go to the sea often. I do it whenever I have time. I Swim for at least an hour. Often for an hour and a half, even for two. If I have a company I can even swim for two and a half hours. I swim without stopping. I do not care much about getting sun tan as to move a bit.

The sea calms my mind

The sea is gymnastics. It soothes my mind, it helps me a lot. Whatever problems I have I forget about everything while swimming. It gives me the mood to work at home, I have more desire to live.

But in winter I usually stop. Fortunately, in Greece it lasts for a short time. I stop swimming at the end of November and I start again in March. These are just 3 months. Since December 22^nd the day is getting longer and once again I’m waiting for summer.

We have a wonderful sea

We have a wonderful sea, but unfortunately very few are seriously engaged in swimming. It seems to me that we appreciate the importance of the sea only after a certain age. One can be entertained also in other ways, of course. Some people prefer the mountains and mountaineering. As to the sea, however, the young people certainly do not appreciate its value. Instead of moving into the water, they are lying and bathing in the sun. After you reache the age of 45 things change.