NO Vouliagmeni or "NOV" (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

: Ναυτικός Όμιλος Βουλιαγμένης, "NOB" = Nautical Club of Vouliagmeni) is a major

aquatic sports The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

club, founded by local sportsmen in 1937 in the seaside resort of

Vouliagmeni Vouliagmeni ( el, Βουλιαγμένη, meaning "sunken") is a seaside suburb and former municipality 20 km south of Athens city centre. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni, of which ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. The club is located on the eastern edge of the Mikro Kavouri peninsula, adjacent to the Astir Palace Hotel and overlooking the bay, town and lake of

. The club also takes particular pride in being an "extended family" for all its past and present athletes. Almost all its coaches and sports staff are past club athletes, and members are encouraged to involve their children in club sports from the youngest age possible.

Activities

The club admits members and their guests and operates a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

, a

waterski Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffic ...

ing school, junior and Olympic competition

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

boats and facilities, an open-air, heated swimming pool, two rocky beaches, members' indoor and outdoor lounges, reading and conference rooms, a first-aid station, a gym, and an upscale restaurant. The club publishes a quarterly illustrated newsletter, the "''Tríaina''" (Τρίαινα, "

Trident A trident is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. The trident is the weapon of Poseidon, or Neptune, the God of the Sea in classical mythology. The trident may occasionally be held by other marine ...

"), distributed free. As part of the celebrations for the club's seventy years, a memorial volume, "''In Search of the Sporting Ideal''", was published in 2008, in commemoration of the club's history. The volume chronicles the club's foundation and development, and pays particular tribute to the many club athletes who have taken part in

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

and won

Olympic medals An Olympic medal is awarded to successful competitors at one of the Olympic Games. There are three classes of medal to be won: gold, silver, and bronze, awarded to first, second, and third place, respectively. The granting of awards is laid o ...

. The most notable Olympic athlete to have been fostered at the club is windsurfer

Nikolaos Kaklamanakis Nikolaos "Nikos" Kaklamanakis ( el, Νικόλαος Κακλαμανάκης, born August 19, 1968, in Athens) is the Greek Gold-medal winner who lit the Olympic torch in the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. He was named o ...

(gold medal,

Atlanta Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, 1996, and silver medal, Athens Olympics, 2004). The outdoor, heated pool hosts

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

finswimming Finswimming is an underwater sport consisting of four techniques involving swimming with the use of fins either on the water's surface using a snorkel with either monofins or bifins or underwater with monofin either by holding one's breath or ...

synchronized swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming) or artistic swimming is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by FINA (the ''Fédérati ...

and

water polo Water polo is a 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 ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

teams and the respective training schools for children. The club hosts two annual competition meetings for youngsters, the "''Tzeláteia''" swimming gala and the "''Chatzitheodórou''" water polo Cup, as well as annual water skiing and sailing events. In addition to regular training for its young athletes, the club organises training schools for beginners, open to all children interested in swimming, finswimming, water polo, boat sailing, windsurfing, synchronized swimming, and waterskiing. Four periods are offered per year in total, two (winter and spring) during school season and two more during the summer vacations. Sports activities for members include aquarobics, aerobics, martial arts classes, long-distance sea swimming, water skiing, and Olympic and recreational sailing and windsurfing. The club also provides

mooring A mooring is any permanent structure to which a vessel may be secured. Examples include quays, wharfs, jetties, piers, anchor buoys, and mooring buoys. A ship is secured to a mooring to forestall free movement of the ship on the water. An ''an ...

for recreational boats owned by members. Several social events and functions are also held at the club, including concerts, art exhibitions, lectures, receptions, dinner parties, the Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve balls, the all-day "May Day at the Club" barbecue, and the

midsummer Midsummer is a celebration of the season of summer usually held at a date around the summer solstice. It has pagan pre-Christian roots in Europe. The undivided Christian Church designated June 24 as the feast day of the early Christian mart ...

"Full Moon Ball".

Crest and colours

The club crest depicts a blue

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...

set inside a white

lifebuoy A lifebuoy is a life-saving buoy designed to be thrown to a person in water, to provide buoyancy and prevent drowning. Some modern lifebuoys are fitted with one or more seawater-activated lights, to aid rescue at night. Other names Other nam ...

with eight red stripes; blue, white and red being the club colors.

Water polo

The women's and men's

teams are a traditional force in European water polo and have won many Greek and several European Championships and Cups. The club often hosts

LEN Euroleague The LEN Champions League is the top-tier European professional water polo club competition with teams from up to 18 countries. It is organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation. The competition started in 1963 as European Cup. A change of nam ...

and

LEN Cup The LEN Euro Cup is the second-tier European water polo club competition run by the Ligue Européenne de Natation for those clubs who did not qualify for the LEN Champions League. The cup was inaugurated in 1992. History Names of the competit ...

tournaments, its star players consistently being capped for the Greek men's and

women's A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female humans regardl ...

national teams. The women's team are the reigning Greek champions (2010) and also the reigning European champions for the second consecutive year (2009, 2010). In 2009 they won the LEN Champions' Cup in

Kirishi Kirishi (russian: Ки́риши, ) is a town and the administrative center of Kirishsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the right bank of the Volkhov River, southeast of St. Petersburg. Population: It was previously kno ...

, Russia, defeating the Italian champions, Orizzonte

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

, in the final. In 2010 they won the LEN Champions' Cup in

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

, Greece, defeating the Russian champions, Kinef

, in the final. In addition to the men's and women's teams, the club maintains water polo teams for girls and boys aged 9 and upwards, and participates in all relevant youth competitions. All teams train under the supervision of head coaches (2010) Ioannis Giannouris and Alexia Kammenou, both former NOV players.

Notable players

Men

Georgios Afroudakis Georgios Afroudakis (born 17 October 1976) is a Greek water polo player. He played in five consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country from 1996 to 2012. He is, jointly with Croat Igor Hinić and Hungarian Tamás Kásás, the tenth athle ...

Christos Afroudakis Christos Afroudakis (born 23 May 1984) is a Greek water polo player who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was the captain of the team that competed for Greece at the 2016 Summe ...

* Zachos Afroudakis * Nikos Darras * Ioannis Giannouris * Theodoros Lorantos *

Dimitrios Mazis Dimitrios Mazis (born 5 September 1976) is a Greek former water polo player who competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics, in the 2004 Summer Olympics, and in the 2008 Summer Olympics. He currently serves as the head coach of Panathinaikos Water Po ...

* George Mavrotas *

Georgios Psykhos Georgios Psykhos (born 5 February 1973) is a Greek former water polo player who competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics (6th place), the 2000 Summer Olympics (10th place) with the Greece men's national water polo team. He was part of the Greece nati ...

* Georgios Reppas * Vangelis Roupakas *

Stefanos Santa Stefanos-Petros Santa (born 21 May 1975 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania) is a Greece, Greek water polo player who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics. At the 1996 Olympics, he was a member of Romania national water polo team as Ștefan Sanda. Currently, ...

* Konstantinos Tsalkanis * Anthony HrysanthosSwimming to success: Q&A with the Australian men’s water polo goalie Anthony Hrysanthos
Marianna Alepidis (

Neos Kosmos Neos Kosmos ( el, Νέος Κόσμος ; meaning "New World") is a neighborhood in Athens, Greece. History In classical antiquity, the area of Neos Kosmos may have been the location of the gymnasium Cynosarges. Geography Neos Kosmos is south of ...

), 16 August 2021. Accessed 13 September 2021. *

Petar Trbojević Petar Trbojević (born 9 September 1973 in Niš, Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia) is a retired Serbian water polo player who played on the bronze medal squad of FR Yugoslavia at the 2000 Summer Olympics and the silver medal squad of Serbia and Montenegr ...

Women

Rebecca Rippon Rebecca Marie Rippon (born 26 December 1978) is an Australian water polo player. She represented Australia as a member of the Australia women's national water polo team at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics, where she won ...

Alexandra Asimaki Alexandra Asimaki ( gr, Αλεξάνδρα Ασημάκη; ; born 28 June 1988) is a Greek water polo player considered one of the best female water polo players in the world in the 21st century. Asimaki was part of the Greece women's national w ...

* Alexia Kammenou * Angeliki Gerolymou * Kelina Kantzou * Dina Kouteli * Georgia Lara *

Kyriaki Liosi Kyriaki "Kiki" Liosi ( el, Κυριακή "Κική" Λιόση; born October 30, 1979) is a female Greek water polo player and Olympic silver medalist with the Greece women's national water polo team. She received a silver medal at the ...

* Antiopi Melidoni * Evangelia Moraitidou * Anthoula Mylonaki * Aikaterini Oikonomopoulou * Antigoni Roumpesi * Christina Tsoukala *

Patricia del Soto Patricia Del Soto Traver (born 16 December 1980 in Esplugues de Llobregat) is a Spanish female water polo goalkeeper. In her youth, she played with Club Natació Esplugues before competing for CE Mediterrani from 1995 to 1998, and then for CN Sa ...

Heather Petri Heather Danielle Petri (born June 13, 1978) is an American water polo player, who won the silver medal with the US women's national team at the 2000 Summer Olympics, a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics, a silver medal in Beijing in 2008 ...

Moriah van Norman Moriah van Norman (born May 30, 1984) is an American water polo player who has played for the University of Southern California and the National team, who won the Peter J. Cutino Award in 2004, recognized as the best female collegiate player in ...

Ashleigh Johnson Ashleigh Elizabeth Johnson (born September 12, 1994) is an American water polo player considered by many to be the best goalkeeper in the world. She was part of the American team that won the gold medal at the 2015 World Aquatics Championships. I ...

Notable coaches

Men

* Ioannis Giannouris * Theodoros Lorantos * Dimitris Mavrotas * Vangelis Roupakas * Josep Brasco Cata

Women

* Alexia Kammenou *

Giorgos Katsoulis Giorgos Katsoulis ( el, Γιώργος Κατσούλης , 1963 – 22 February 2023) was a Greek water polo player and the assistant coach of Olympiacos Women's Water Polo Team, since 2016. As a player, Katsoulis played for Greek powerhouse Oly ...

* Vangelis Roupakas * Akis Tsatalios

Water polo titles

*Men: ** Greek water polo championships (4): 1991, 1997, 1998, 2012 ** Greek water polo cups (4): 1996, 1999, 2012, 2017 **Double (1): 2012 **Greek Super Cup (1): 1996 ** Shield of the European Union

LEN Cup Winners' Cup The LEN Cup Winners' Cup was a European water polo club competition organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation. National cup winners qualified for the tournament. After 2003, the nationalcup winners qualified for the LEN Euroleague, and the cu ...

(1): 1997 ** Shield of the European Union

LEN Euro Cup The LEN Euro Cup is the second-tier European water polo club competition run by the Ligue Européenne de Natation for those clubs who did not qualify for the LEN Champions League. The cup was inaugurated in 1992. History Names of the competiti ...

***''Runners-up (1): 2004'' *Women: ** Greek water polo championships (11) (record): 1991, 1993, 1994, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012 ** Shield of the European Union

Women's LEN Champions' Cup (2): 2009, 2010 ***''Runners-up (3): 2008, 2012, 2014'' ** Shield of the European Union

Women's LEN Trophy The Women's LEN Trophy is LEN's second-tier competition for women's water polo clubs. It was first held in 2000 as the LEN Women's Cup Winners' Cup. It was contested for many seasons by around 15 teams, which could qualify for it either directly d ...

(1): 2003 ***''Runners-up (3): 2000, 2005, 2016'' ** Shield of the European Union

LEN Women's Supercup (2): 2009, 2010

European Honours

References

External links

Official website

The photographic archive of NOV, tracking the club's course from the 1940s to the present
(in English and Greek)
"La regina Alexia" - news item from the Water Polo Development World website
(in Italian and English) {{Vouliagmeni Women's Water Polo 2009-10 European Champions Water polo clubs in Greece Yacht clubs in Greece 1937 establishments in Greece Multi-sport clubs in Athens Sports clubs established in 1937 Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni