Vassilis Krommidas ( el, Βασίλης Κρομμύδας, born July 4, 1970, in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

) is a

triathlete A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

and coach from

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

best known for competing at the 2000 and 2004

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

. Krommidas is a graduate of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki with a degree in Physical Education and Sports Sciences. He started his competitive career as a swimmer at the age of ten and later became a member of the Greek national swimming team. He took up triathlon in 1989. Throughout his career he posted numerous top finishes in various distance races. He was a member of the Greek national triathlon team for several years and has won the Greek Triathlon Championship a record eleven times. In the early years of his career Krommidas competed mostly in long distances. He took 17th place at the 1994

Ironman World Championship The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualificati ...

in Hawaii and holds the course record for the Age Group M18-24 (8:55:02) ever since. Other notable results include 10th place at the 1992 Ironman Europe in Roth (8:27:38), 4th place at the 1993 Ironman Podersdorf Austria (8:35:22) and 8th place at the 1994 Ironman Lanzarote (9:01:20). At the 1997

ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships The World Triathlon Long Distance Championships is a triathlon race held annually since 1994. The championships involve a continuous swim-cycle-run, over distances varying between that of an Olympic-distance and an Iron-distance triathlon race. The ...

in Nice (4 km / 120 km / 30 km) he took 8th place in 5:49:56. He gradually shifted his focus to shorter distances. He competed at the first Olympic Triathlon at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney and took 33rd place in 1:51:28. Four years later, at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, he competed again. He completed the swim in 18:20 but was forced to withdraw from the race during the cycling stage due to technical problems with his bike. Krommidas’ coaching career includes five years as the head coach of the Greek Triathlon Federation from 2005 to 2009. He has coached triathlete Deniz Dimaki, nine-time Greek national champion who participated in the women's triathlon in 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and has won a bronze medal at the ETU European Duathlon Championships in the same year. Krommidas also coached national triathletes Kostas Dovanas (four-time Greek male champion) and Zarina Kopina (2011 and 2012 Greek female champion) and he has been the Cyprus Triathlon National Team's coach since January 2011. Nowadays he coaches various levels of athletes from amateur to professional level. He regularly contributes articles on training and racing for endurance sports magazines.

References

External links

Vassilis Krommidas’ Official Website

ITU Vassilis Krommidas Profile Page

Greek Triathlon Federation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krommidas, Vassilis 1970 births Living people Greek male triathletes Olympic triathletes of Greece Triathletes at the 2000 Summer Olympics Triathletes at the 2004 Summer Olympics Triathlon coaches Sportspeople from Thessaloniki Swimmers from Thessaloniki Athletes from Thessaloniki