In this episode

Sofia Garefi, 23 and based in Thessaloniki, comes from competitive tennis and describes rediscovering the athlete within after Erasmus.

The conversation centres on her father–coach relationship, middle distance, Katerini and Warsaw as her first international trip, focusing mainly on her experience, training and next racing goals.

Detailed show notes

Tennis, a crash and a first half

She is 23, with a February birthday, and is presenting her dissertation in International and European Studies at the University of Macedonia, specialising in politics and diplomacy. She played competitive tennis from four to 16–17, aiming for a US university scholarship.

In 2012, aged nine, she did a children’s triathlon and duathlon in Schinias; she fell on a rowing-centre corner and remembers Mrs Zarina picking her up. At 16, her father, already involved in the sport, entered her in the Almiraman half. She does not remember the year. She recalls a swim of around 50 minutes after getting lost, and wondering why she was doing it during the final ten run kilometres.

Erasmus and Lake Doxa

For three or four years, triathlon was mainly social, with one or two races a year. During Erasmus, she realised she missed feeling like an athlete, beyond general wellbeing. She returned in early July and raced Lake Doxa two weeks later; she regards that performance as her athletic beginning in triathlon.

Middle distance is her favourite, mainly for time-trial cycling. She cannot imagine Ironman distance, at least yet. She calls running weaker than the other two sports, though it is improving.

Katerini, Plastira and Warsaw

In Katerini, she prepared friends for two sprint relays; the emotion matters more to her than the result. At the Plastira sprint, she ran the final kilometre around 3:40 when another woman pressed from behind, a pace she did not believe she had.

Warsaw was her first triathlon abroad: dismantling a bike, a lake she found dirty and two transition areas. Over the 90 km, she never put her foot inside the cycling shoe; afterwards, she recognised it as a panic-driven mistake.

A father who coaches, and future goals

She distinguishes when her dad is speaking from when her coach is speaking. During marathon preparation on the treadmill, she asked for an easier session and he refused. She describes him as a swimming and water-polo coach with many athletes, rather than someone experimenting on his daughter.

Her priorities are the Katerini half as the national middle-distance championship and qualification for the 70.3 in Nice in September. She forgets, then remembers, Navarino 70.3 in October. She describes Istanbul as an age-group sprint team trip and a positive group experience rather than a purely competitive day.

Key takeaways

  • Her triathlon restart came when she missed being an athlete, rather than simply seeking exercise.
  • Middle distance suits her because it leaves room for mistakes and time-trial cycling.
  • Father and coach can coexist only when boundaries are clear in racing and training.
  • A first trip abroad is part of the race; she sees the Warsaw shoe mistake as a lesson in experience, not an equipment detail.