Antonios Tsapatakis (Greek: Αντώνιος Τσαπατάκης; born 13 January 1988) is a Greek Paralympic swimmer.^[1] He became a T8-9 complete paraplegic after a spinal cord injury due to a motorbike accident in 2006. He competes in 100m breaststroke SB4 classification.

Quick Facts Personal information, Native name ...

Antonios Tsapatakis

Personal information
Native name	Αντώνιος Τσαπατάκης
Nationality	Greek
Born	Chania, Crete, Greece
Occupation	Police officer
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	76 kg (168 lb)
Sport
Country	Greece
Sport	Para swimming
Disability	Paraplegia
Disability class	SB4, S5
Club	Megalonisos
Coached by	Chrysafis Vangelakakis
Medal record Paralympic Games 2020 Tokyo 100m breaststroke SB4 World Championships 2022 Madeira 100m breaststroke SB4 2023 Manchester 100m breaststroke SB4 2015 Glasgow 100m breaststroke SB4 2013 Montreal 100m breaststroke SB4 2013 Montreal 200m individual medley SM5 2017 Mexico City 100m breaststroke SB4 European Championships 2014 Eindhoven 100m breaststroke SB4 2014 Eindhoven 200m individual medley SM5 2009 Reykjavik 100m breaststroke SB4 2021 Funchal 100m breaststroke SB4

Close

Tsapatakis obtained many awards in national (holds two national records), European and global competitions. He possesses more than 20 gold, silver, and bronze medals. His power, passion and determination led him to the 2012 Paralympics in London, which added to his biographical material the 4th place in 100m breaststroke SB4. In 2015, he broke the European record and won the silver medal at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Swimming World Championship in Glasgow.^[2]

Tsapatakis grew up in Chania, Crete. Αt the age of five, he started swimming in the public swimming pool of Chania. At the age of 12, he became a polo athlete of Chania swim club, earning awards in swimming and polo alike. In 2005, he enlisted in the academy of the Hellenic Police.

One year later, in December 2006, just outside the swimming pool where he had spent half of his life as a polo player, he lost the control of his motorcycle due to excessive speed. He was ejected against a pavement, resulting in paralysis of the lower limbs. Just under 9 months after becoming paralyzed Tsapatakis was back in the pool and in 2009 he started swimming in the disabled team of Megalonissos. Tsapatakis stated that what drove him back to swimming was his need of independence and becoming active again.^[1]

In 2016, Antonios co-authored a children’s book with Elena Thoidou. The book entitled “To oneiro”, translating to “The dream”, was launched in June 2016 and one of the biggest dreams of Tsapatakis became reality.^[19] The aim of publishing this book was to familiarize children and their parents with the concept of equality while conveying meaningful messages regarding children with special needs.^[20] Tsapatakis is actively building upon his career outside of the pool through motivational speeches and other public appearances around the world. Through his position as a police officer in the Hellenic Police, Antonios visits Greek schools to share his experience regarding his accident, trying to motivate and educate children in matters of road safety and traffic rules.^[21][22]