Prudentialists consider the number 13… ominous. But, for the crew of the Nirey ship, the then successor Konstantin, Odysseus Eskitsoglu and Giorgos Zaimis proved to be the mascot, winning the gold medal. At the Olympic Games in Rome, the boat was 13th in its class. His crew left for Italy on July 13, 1960. The number 13, of course, was on the mast of the sailboat and in the sailors’ lockers. In Naples, where the Olympic regatta was held, “Nireas” at number 13 was the main character in the “Dragon” class.

Konstantinos’ relationship with sailing began in his teens. However, since childhood, he loved the sea, and many times, together with his father Pavlos, they rediscovered it and rested by fishing on a boat in the waters of the Saronic Gulf. The same love for the liquid element was with the then princesses Sophia and Irene.

The prince’s desire to learn the “secrets” of sailing led him to find one of the best sailors of the time as a teacher. It was none other than Odysseus Eskitsoglu, who at that time served at the School of Naval Cadets in Piraeus. Together with an eight-year-old senior sailor and sister Sophia, they began their first races on boats of the Lightning type. Then they dealt with the Dragons.

At that time, all members of the then royal family acquired Dragon-type sailboats and, together with other businessmen, shipowners and representatives of secular Athens, took part in the races organized in the sea area outside the waters of Mikrolimanos.

The countdown to the Olympic Games in Rome began, and the idea of ​​participating in this event gradually matured. Odysseus Eskitsoglu convinced Constantine that Sophia should be replaced by a man to make the crew more dynamic, and the princess became a deputy from a regular member. Her place was taken by Giorgos Zaimis.

The trio began intensive preparations for the 1960 Olympic Games. Next to them was … the sacred monster of the cosmos, Paul Elvstrom. The Danish sailor’s collection already had three gold medals from the Olympic Games, five gold and one silver from the World Championships. The legend of the sea was the most ideal teacher for the three Greek sailors.

On July 13, 1960, the crew of the Nireus flew to Italy. He participated in international competitions in Genoa and in the Sea Week in Kiel. There, the three athletes discovered that they could do more than compete in the world’s premier sporting event.

During the opening ceremony at the Olimpiko, Konstantinos was the standard-bearer for the Greek delegation. The Olympic regatta started in early September in Naples. The event was attended by the Greek royal family of the time. The Greek boat from the first races showed what it could be among the main characters, and on September 7, the Dragon races ended with the Greek flag at the top of the standings. On September 8, the award ceremony took place in the picturesque port of the Olympic Marina, the sailors of Nireya climbed the first step of the pedestal. This was the first Greek gold medal since Kostas Tsiklitiras won at the 1912 Olympics.

Konstantinos’ participation in sailing continued in later years, but with Lightning-type boats and not at the Olympic level. “I remember him running with his teammates at the European Championships. In fact, in one of them we were rivals. Subsequently, he also dealt with the high seas. In fact, in the race abroad, he came with my own boat,” Georgios Andreadis, a former sailor who competed in the 1968 and 1976 Olympics and a longtime head of the World Sailing Federation, told kathimerini.gr.

The last races of the “golden” Olympian were held on the boat “Afroessa”, which bore the name of a historic ship: a steamer, which was one of the first iron screw ships of the Navy and received in 1857 from shipyards. England captain Emmanuel Miaouli. The wooden sailboat was a gift from the former king to his wife in 2006 for her 60th birthday.^a her birthday. After all, the marriage proposal to Anna Maria was made on a sea voyage to Norway.

Konstantinos, along with his old teammates and family members, competed with Afroessa in the traditional rowing race at the Spetses regatta. And on this boat he ended his sailing career. The “golden” Olympic champion of Rome, in addition to sailing, went in for volleyball, hockey and high jump.