Epaminondas "Nondas" Samartzidis (9 September 1965 – 22 June 1996) was a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player who competed in the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

and in the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

. He had 319 appearances for the

Greece men's national water polo team The Greece men's national water polo team represents Greece in international men's water polo competitions and it is organized and run by the Hellenic Swimming Federation. Greece has a long tradition of strong presence at international level, wi ...

. He started his career in Aris Thessaloniki. In 1985 final for the Greek Cup, Aris lost the final 8-7, but Samartzidis was the best player. The next season got transferred to powerhouse Ethnikos Piraeus where he won two championships (1988, 1994) and one Greek cup (1988). He had five gold medals in swimming (freestyle). He drowned on 22 June 1996 when he made

free diving Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving, is a mode of underwater diving that relies on apnea, breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba set, scuba gear. Besides the ...

near to

Palaia Epidavros Palaia Epidavros or Palaia Epidauros (also Palea Epidavros and Palea Epidauros; Greek: Παλαιά Επίδαυρος) is a small town in the Argolis prefecture of the Peloponnese. Today also called Archaia Epidauros (Αρχαία Επίδαυρο ...

. Samartzidis was the captain of the

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, but he was expelled from the team in 1995 during the

1995 Men's European Water Polo Championship The 1995 Men's European Water Polo Championship was the 22nd edition of the bi-annual event, organised by the Europe's governing body in aquatics, the Ligue Européenne de Natation. The event took place in Vienna, Austria from August 18 to Augus ...

. The reason was that he visited his teammate

Theodoros Kalakonas Theodoros "Thodoris" Kalakonas (born 28 October 1974) is a Greek water polo player who competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics (6th place), and in the 2004 Summer Olympics (4th place) with the Greece men's national water polo team. He was part of th ...

who was ill at the hospital, without the permission of

Hellenic Swimming Federation The Hellenic Swimming Federation () founded in 1927, is the aquatics national federation for Greece. It oversees competition in 4 Olympic sports, Olympic aquatic sports (swimming, synchronized swimming, diving and water polo). It is affiliated to ...

's adminisratators.28 χρόνια χωρίς τον Νώντα Σαμαρτζίδη kanaliena.gr
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References

External links

* * 1965 births 1996 deaths Greek male water polo players Greek male freestyle swimmers Olympic water polo players for Greece Water polo players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Ethnikos WPC Ethnikos Piraeus Water Polo Club players Water polo players from Thessaloniki Deaths by drowning in Greece 20th-century Greek sportsmen Water polo centre forwards Water polo wings {{Greece-waterpolo-bio-stub