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Paper short abstract

An athletic swimming challenge, that takes place once a year somewhere in the Aegean Archipelago, is viewed as a dynamic representational practice for the host community through updating existing customs and identities, collective memory mechanisms, belonging and togetherness.

Paper long abstract

This paper deals with a recent sporting event that takes place once a year somewhere in the Aegean Archipelago and its insular complexes. We argue that, in this case, an athletic swimming challenge is being transformed into a dynamic representational practice for the host community through updating existing customs and identity matters, triggering collective memory mechanisms, while it reactivates a sense of belonging and togetherness. Our approach draws on the following (ongoing) fieldwork research elements:

The Sea: a long swimming race around a small island in the NE Aegean Sea, Greece.

The “marathon”: a tough open sea contest where, symbolically, there is no loser; every swimmer and their individual teams (support boat captains and personal assistants), all receive a medal.

The circled island: a small population, until recently identified as an endogamic community of goat herders and fishermen with many children in large families. An unspoken challenge of inclusiveness for several decades. The community hosts the annual athletic gathering and supports the swimmers in a festive mood: participates, welcomes, ritualizes, and then, narrates the story and remembers.