Go! Go! Go! - Go Goudas Go!
Kalamaki - late 50’s
For some time now Mr. Goudas
has mentioned to us a ‘story’. We
cannot categorize it, whether it is a
tragedy, or a comedy, we will let you
decide.
We are also unsure as to what the
appropriate title should be.
The following titles were suggested:
The Swimmer, A Kid in Trouble,
The Drowning Kid, The Naked
Swimmer, Desperate Moments, The
Jumping King, “Go! Goudas Go!”..
.
We worked very hard to capture the
full meaning of the story. Therefore,
we would like to take you back to
the beginning of the biography.
Spyros Peter Goudas was born in
an area of Greece called Kalamaki,
a beautiful town, and a suburb of
Athens, overlooking the Saronikos.
Like any other immigrant in this
country he is very proud of the town
where he was born.
We also mentioned that he was
an avid swimmer and a member of
the Kalamaki Swimming Team as a
young boy.
During adolescence and as a
consequence of the physical demands
of his job, he developed extraordinary
muscles that forced him to engage in
recreational swimming only.
The fact is that a person with
a muscular, bodybuilding physique
does not swim well. They can float
but they cannot participate in
competitive swimming.
For this you need a smooth,
flowing body, somewhat like Johnny
Weissmuller’s of Tarzan’s fame,
so that you can slide across the
water. Hence, Spyros’ athletic body
prevented him from accomplishing
this feat.
The town of Kalamaki is located in
an area of the Saronikos, frequented
by many tourists because the beaches
between Old Faliro to Sounio are
some of the most beautiful and idyllic
in the world.
Kalamakiotes (the name that the
people from Kalamaki are called),
are very proud of this and one of the
resulting products of this environment
was a strong Kalamaki Swimming
Team, despite the fact that they never
won the Pan-Hellenic Swimming
Championship.
Around the summer of either
1956-57 or 58, the Pan Hellenic
Championship was being held at the
Athens Swimming Venue. Spectators
and lovers of the sport had purchased
tickets months in advance.
Spyros, together with some of his
friends, thought it would be a good
idea to attend this event, to have
a good time and to provide moral
support for the Kalamaki team, which
included his young sister, a champion
in the young girls’ category, and a
participant in this event.
The games progressed through
the various categories, for example
men women or boy/girl categories,
50 metres, 100 metres, backstroke,
freestyle, butterfly, and so on.
Everything was progressing very
well, with lots of excitement due to
the fact that Kalamaki was winning,
and the Kalamakiotes were becoming
louder and louder each time one of
their own emerged a winner.
King Pavlos and Queen Frederica
were in attendance and were quite
serious and stately, as required of
royalty.
Additionally, the entire event was
being broadcast live through the
media. It was coming close to the
end of the games, with one event
left to be completed, the 200-metre,
which was the most important.
This particular event required one
swimmer from each team to swim for
200 metres, the first 50 - freestyle,
return 50 - breaststroke, third 50 -
backstroke and fourth 50 - butterfly.
The fact that Kalamaki was winning
only required this final competitor
to finish the race, regardless of
which place he was in, first or last.
Kalamaki was already celebrating
because they knew they had one of
the best swimmers in this category.
Spyros Peter was sitting and precelebrating
among his friends and
fellow Kalamakiotes.
Suddenly, he noticed that some
friends were signaling to him from
the poolside. When he finally made
his way down to them, they requested
that he should follow them into the
change room.
At that time they informed him that
their champion, who was scheduled
to swim next, had suddenly become
ill (diarrhea or something) and it
was not possible to replace him with
any of the swimmers who had already
taken part in the previous races.
Since he was the brother of Marina,
who was a champion swimmer, and
since they were well aware of his
swimming capabilities, both as a
former competitive swimmer and as
a regular at the beach, they thought
he would be the best candidate to
replace the ill competitor.
Spyros was hesitant and tried to
decline the offer. But before he could
even say “Johnny Weissmuller” they
were already undressing him and
were physically putting him into the
swimming trunks of the ill competitor,
which turned out to be a little too big
for him.
The next thing he knew, he was being
carried to and positioned on to the
diving podium with some resistance
because he was still undecided as
to whether he should assume this
responsibility. But when he heard
the Kalamaki fans calling his name
and enthusiastically shouting,
“Go! Go! Go! Go Goudas Go!”,
and the coach simultaneously
instructing him to “make Kalamaki
proud” and to remember that he did
not have to win, just finish the race, he
felt a wave of excitement run through
his body. Before he could think any
further, he heard the announcer with
the countdown, “3, 2, 1” and the
sound of the starter pistol “Boom”.
Instinctively, he dove into the water,
and to the surprise of everyone,
including himself, the swim trunks,
which were a little bigger than his
size, automatically slid down and
came off his body. Shocked, he
quickly tried to retrieve them, but
they were already sinking to the
bottom of the pool. In the mean time
the crowd continued to shout: “Go
Goudas Go!”
Obviously, everyone was laughing
because of this new dimension in
swimming, “the naked swimmer”.
He continued swimming only to find
out almost halfway through his first
50-metres that he met the competitors
on their return stretch.
Upon his arrival at the first 50-
metre point, he discovered that the
other swimmers had already arrived
too.
He made the turn to begin the
next level, the breaststroke, when he
realized that the others were doing
the butterfly.
With his mouth full of water, blinded
by the chlorine he was not used
to, and his muscles already getting
tighter and tighter, he struggled to
continue.
When his competitors finally
finished the race and the crowd
began to shout bravo, bravo to the
winners, Spyros was still trying to
finish the first 100 metres.
Upon his arrival, he tried to tell
his coach and teammates that he
was unable to continue and was
completely exhausted, but the coach
forcefully instructed him to “Go,
Go, Go”! He had no choice but to
persist.
The next stretch, the backstroke
was very embarrassing for him but
all the girls had a good time.
They cheered him on constantly.
So with his new antenna navigation
system he tried to do his best.
However, he was drinking water left
and right, and with a determination
way beyond his abilities and effort,
after a long battle, he finally
approached the end of the 150
metres, at which point an ambulance
had already been dispatched to pick
him up in case of an emergency.
Not only the Kalamaki team, but
also the swimming committee, along
with the competition, even King
Pavlos and his Queen, were standing
up and pointing in the other direction
of the finishing position, shouting
with encouragement:
“Go Goudas Go!”
At this point he made up his mind
to continue farther despite the tons
of water he had swallowed to make
the effort to complete the 50 metres
of the butterfly stroke.
His arms seemed to weigh a ton
through the fact that his muscles
were locked, and his chest was not
able to get any air because they were
filled with water.
He was overwhelmed with the
media broadcast and with the crowd
standing up and continuing the “Go!
Go! Go! Go Goudas Go!” chant of
encouragement, even through the PA
system.
After a long battle he finally arrived
about 10 metres from the finish line
only to perform some desperate
moves. And with superhuman effort,
each time he was about to dive down,
instead of going a few centimetres
ahead, he discovered on coming
up that he was moving backwards
instead of forward.
With the blindness in his eyes and
no oxygen in his chest, Spyros thought
he was going to die and completely
lost his sense of direction.
At that point some of the finest
swimmers, even from the competition,
jumped in to the pool, surrounded
him, and without physically touching
him, guided him by indicating the
direction in which he should go each
time he emerged to the surface.
Needless to say, the last two metres
were a “life and death situation”
for Spyros although the crowd was
louder than anyone can describe.
It was only when he finally touched
the podium, that the statement from
a recent film: “White Men Can’t
Jump” proved to be untrue, because
even the King was demonstrating the
opposite by jumping up and down
when Spyros finally finished the
race! It was at this point that Spyros
collapsed.
He was picked up from the water,
taken out limp and naked, into an
awaiting towel. He was a hero, and
was triumphantly carried away on the
shoulders of his teammates and his
competitors alike, accompanied by
a thunderous applause and screams
of the
“Go! Go! Go! Go Goudas Go!”
chant echoing in the background.
The writer believes that this is the
“piece de resistance”
and the most beautiful story.
It should be entitled:
COURAGE
BEYOND RECOGNITION
AI
