Windsurf / Press Release n.11  11 May 2005

XX Edition World Festival On The Beach
Palermo Mondello 11-22 May 2005

NIKOS KAKLAMANAKIS, TORCH BEARER AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN ATHENS, COMES TO MONDELLO NOT TO RACE BUT AS A COACH

Nikos Kaklamankis known the greek windsurf champion and who was the last torch bearer at the olympic games in Athens has arrived in Mondello for the Mistral Class championships to be held from the 13th to the 20th of May.
This time Kaklamanakis will be back in Mondello not to race, as he has done for the past few years in Mondello’s Gulf, but as a coach.
He will infact be along side younger Greek athletes. This will definatly be a new experience for the Greek champion who long before Athens in 2004 had decided to retire from his career and dedicate his time to younger athletes.
Kaklamanakis was born on the 19th of September 1968, he decided at an early age to go out on a windsurf, racing for the Naval club in Andros. Straight away he became to be one of the best athletes in the world, 1992 was his first time in participating in the olympics and he came in at 9th place, in 1994 he was awarded as the European champion. A year later he was awarded the silver medal in the South African championships and from there he went on going with a second participation in the olympics and the best victory in the Atlanta games in 1996. In 2000 he’s still participating in the olympics this time in Sydey where he takes 6th place, and then he wins the Mistral Class world championships at Mar del la Plata in Argentina. He then had the same success in 2001 at Varkiza, Attica. A year later Nikos is busy with the European championships where he came in at 5th palce,these were held before the World Festival on the Beach in 2003. 2004 was a new olympic year. The world championships held at Cesame saw him come in at 15th place, but it was the olympic games that created him the attention. The olympics held in his home country brought him triumph that was only half taken: Kaklamanakis after a great race had to be happy with the silver medal as the gold medasl was taken by Gal Fridman the first Isralian to take home an olympic title. This second olympic medal was the best way to conclude his professional windsurfing career which has always been at excellent levels and where he is now known as the greek windsurfing champion. Kaklamanakis has decide to turn a page in his windsurfing career and give all he can with his experience to younger athletes by choosing the world championships in Mondello as his first starting place as a coach to younger greek windsurfing companions.