Eleni Avlonitou

Eleni Avlonitou began her swimming career at the relatively late age of 10 at Ethnikos Gymnastikos Syllogos of Athens, one of the oldest sports clubs in Greece. Her entry into the club coincided with the hiring of the famed Greek swimming coach Giorgos Mpias as coach of the swimming team of Ethnikos Gymnastikos Syllogos. Their cooperation resulted in a sea change in Greek swimming.^[1] After a year Eleni Avlonitou was a national record holder in her age group. In 1971 at the age of 13 Eleni Avlonitou achieved her first women's national records (backstroke 100m and freestyle 800 m). In March 1972 she became the first Greek female swimmer to qualify for the Olympics and she participated in the Munich Olympics in 4 events (individual medley 200/400 m, freestyle 400/800 m).^[2] That year the Greek Association of Sports Press voted her best swimmer of 1972. In 1973 Eleni Avlonitou was voted best female athlete of the year by the Greek Association of Sports Press.^[3] After interrupting swimming for one year in 1976, Eleni Avlonitou achieved a comeback in 1977, improving her national records 12 times until 1980.^{[4] [5]}

In all Eleni Avlonitou achieved 121 Greek national records in every category (3-1969, 13-1970, 29-1971, 42-1972, 21-1973, 1-1974, 4-1977, 1-1978, 7-1979) in 7 individual events (freestyle 100/200/400/800 m, individual medley 200/400 m, backstroke 100 m) and 2 relay events (4 X 100 freestyle and 4 X 100 medley).^[4]

During her swimming career Eleni Avlonitou won 35 Greek national championship medals (28 gold, 6 silver, 1 bronze). She also won 14 Balkan Games medals (7 gold, 4 silver, 3 bronze) and held Balkan records in 4 individual events (freestyle 400/800 m and individual medley 200/400 m).^[4]

In 1980 Eleni Avlonitou graduated from the University of Athens with a BSc in Physical Education and retired from competitive swimming in order to continue her education in the United States. Eleni Avlonitou attended Indiana University Bloomington and received her MSc in Physical Education in 1983 and PhD in ergophysiology in 1988.^[6]

In 1988 Eleni Avlonitou took a position as research ergophysiologist at the Hellenic Sports Research Institute of the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens, where she remained until 2013. Additionally she has held the following advisory and teaching positions:^[6]

• 1989–1995: Scientific advisor of the Greek Swimming Federation.
• 1990–1992: Lecturer at the Physical Education and Sport Sciences Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
• 1994–1998: Member of the Sports Medicine Committee of the European Swimming League.
• 1999–2003 and 2012- today: Visiting professor at the National School of Public Health, Athens.

Eleni Avlonitou has written two scientific books in Greek, "Athletic performance in swimming" (1991, 2000)^[7] and "Woman and exercise" (1993).^{[8] [9]}

From 2001 to 2008 Eleni Avlonitou wrote a weekly sports column, aptly named "Eleni's view", in the Athens daily newspaper "Avgi".

In 2001 and 2002 Eleni Avlonitou hosted a weekly hour-long television sports program "Sports with Eleni" that was broadcast on the Athens area TV channel SEVEN.^[10]

Eleni Avlonitou is an active member of the Hellenic Olympians Association ^[11] and has been on the Administrative Council during the years 1992–1996 and 2002–2010.

In 2013 Eleni Avlonitou was elected Member of the Administrative Council of Ethnikos Gymnastikos Syllogos of Athens, her sport club during her active swimming years.^[12] In January 2016 Eleni Avlonitou was elected President of Ethnikos Gymnastikos Syllogos of Athens. ^[13]