Skip to player
Skip to main content
Skip to footer
Search
Connect
Watch fullscreen
Like
Comments
Bookmark
Share
Add to Playlist
Report
Windsurfing at 86: Greek senior citizen defies age and preconceived notions
DW (English)
Follow
1/16/2025
At 86, Anastasia Gerolymatou holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest female windsurfer. For this inspiring Greek senior citizen, age is definitely just a number. DW paid her a visit on the island of Kefalonia.
Category
🗞
News
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
Anastasia Geromilatou from the Greek island of Kefalonia
00:05
holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest female windsurfer.
00:09
She recently turned 86 and is still demonstrating
00:13
not only her remarkable dedication to the sport
00:16
but also her lust for life and adventurous spirit.
00:22
When I surf, it's fantastic.
00:25
It's like you're on top of the wave,
00:28
you lift your fins and you're gone.
00:31
Without a motor, without anything,
00:34
it gives you so much air, it fills your soul.
00:40
Anastasia has always been very active and loved sports.
00:44
She got into windsurfing completely by chance at the age of 41.
00:49
She's never taken windsurfing lessons and is entirely self-taught.
00:55
We were in Las Palmas on vacation with a friend of mine
01:01
and we wanted to get to know each other better.
01:05
And he started talking to me.
01:08
He said,
01:09
I haven't been to New York in days,
01:12
I haven't been to any sport.
01:14
Nothing, nothing at all.
01:16
Nothing, dead.
01:17
Suddenly, deep inside, I see someone doing windsurfing.
01:21
Honestly, I don't know how to put it,
01:23
it's the first time I've seen it.
01:25
And I say to him,
01:26
my husband,
01:27
my husband, my friend Louise,
01:29
do you see that?
01:30
That's it, that's what I like.
01:34
Anastasia also rides a motor scooter
01:37
and has a self-made trailer which she uses to transport her equipment.
01:41
She's always ready for the next adventure,
01:44
living life to the full.
01:48
Everything is fine.
01:50
I do it in Sanida,
01:52
we go to Kopi,
01:53
I really like it here,
01:54
there's a little bit of air.
01:56
That's why I love it there,
01:58
it's quite far,
01:59
more than 300 meters.
02:01
And I've done it in 5 minutes,
02:04
7 minutes I went and came back.
02:06
And I even cut a candle
02:08
and I brought one,
02:09
I can't believe I've been to the island.
02:11
It had to start,
02:12
not with this weather,
02:14
with a little bit of air.
02:17
Or at least a little bit of breath,
02:19
to try to lift the sail,
02:21
to do these,
02:22
the others,
02:23
balance,
02:25
to get the air,
02:30
to stay in the sail and not go to the sea.
02:33
You have to learn first to turn back
02:36
and not to go too far.
02:38
It would be very nice to turn
02:41
and learn here in front,
02:44
because you haven't learned
02:47
that there are rocks,
02:50
rocks,
02:51
and you might break your fin
02:53
and not be able to turn back.
02:55
It's dangerous,
02:57
that's why you have to learn here first.
03:01
In June 2024,
03:03
Anastasia made another of her dreams come true.
03:06
Breaking her own record,
03:08
she surfed across the part of the Ionian Sea
03:11
between Kefalonia and Zakynthos,
03:13
a distance of 11 nautical miles.
03:17
This time I wanted to go to Prague
03:20
after October 16,
03:22
to do the last part,
03:24
where they add the 86,
03:27
so no one will tell me to go to Koutsa.
03:31
Anastasia has one more wish,
03:33
to find the man from whom she first rented out
03:35
windsurfing equipment all those years ago,
03:38
on the day her lifelong passion for this sport
03:40
was born.
03:42
Please, if you hear my message,
03:46
call me,
03:48
contact me,
03:50
and I'll give you a vacation in Kefalonia.
03:53
I'll stay above the airport,
03:55
Kefalonia,
03:56
five minutes from the airport.
03:58
I'll take him anyway,
04:00
from the airport.
04:01
If he tells me that he's coming,
04:03
I'll be very happy.
04:06
Until then,
04:07
Anastasia will continue to surf
04:09
and live life on her own terms,
04:11
inspiring many others with her philosophy
04:14
that age is nothing but a number.
Recommended
2:08
|
Up next
South Australia's oldest Greek club celebrates its 100th birthday in Port Pirie
ABC NEWS (Australia)
7/23/2024
2:50
This 84-Year-Old Breaks A World Record
A Plus
12/16/2019
1:40
Canada rescinds digital services tax to advance stalled US trade talks
The Star
yesterday
2:23
Mining case: Why reel in the small fry and not bigger fish, asks whistleblower
The Star
yesterday
1:50
Firefighters battle to contain wildfires in western Turkey for second day
The Star
yesterday
3:05
Short track-Do you know what happens During sexual arousal inside the body_ what is the clitoris_
A To Z Videos
10/5/2022
6:30
Do you know how orgasm is in females_ female body and biology
A To Z Videos
10/5/2022
3:33
DONT FAP (Omegle & Chatroulette Funny Moments #82)
Aysesen2016
10/14/2015
3:50
UNICEF funding cut could end education for Rohingya kids
DW (English)
yesterday
4:28
Porridge: Simple, healthy and nutritious
DW (English)
yesterday
2:08
How Gen Z protests change activism in Kenya
DW (English)
yesterday
4:58
Life in a convent — dream or nightmare?
DW (English)
2 days ago
5:01
Georgia's nightclubs fight for freedom to party
DW (English)
2 days ago
12:35
Mexican women's softball team stands up against sexism
DW (English)
3 days ago
5:08
How France's used kayaks end up as furniture
DW (English)
4 days ago
3:37
How 95-year-old Gerda Hammel runs her shop
DW (English)
4 days ago
1:12
Longevity – How to age healthier
DW (English)
4 days ago
1:35
Why learning German could open doors for Nigerian nurses
DW (English)
4 days ago
2:09
Pakistan: Female pilot breaks age, gender barriers
DW (English)
4 days ago
3:53
Muslims struggle to find mosque location in central Prague
DW (English)
4 days ago
3:28
Extortion in South Africa drives up construction costs
DW (English)
4 days ago
2:43
Netherlands returns stolen bronzes to Nigeria
DW (English)
4 days ago
2:08
Why China's electric-car boom is stalling
DW (English)
5 days ago
2:47
Germany: Greens call for closure of Russian cultural center
DW (English)
5 days ago
4:29
How Lola Akinmade advocates the African view of life
DW (English)
5 days ago