Anastasia Gerolymatou, 81, succeeded in her effort to enter the Guinness World Records when she arrived at the beach in Kyllini at 18:02 on Saturday on her windsurf, having covered a distance of 18 nautical miles from Kefallonia.

The 81-year-old windsurfer had set off from Skala, Kefallonia and was tossed on the waves of the Ionian Sea for six hours before reaching her destination. During her journey, she was accompanied by two support boats.

In an exclusive statement to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency on her arrival in Kyllini, Gerolymatou appeared visibly moved as she said: “I very much enjoyed what I did, it was a lifetime dream for me, ever since I was a small child. I was on the sea for roughly six hours but hardly realised how the time passed.”

“I am now handing over the baton to young people with a message to never quit in their lives, no matter what difficulties they face. I call on them to love the sea and my goal is to teach young children to windsurf,” she added.

She also thanked the people waiting for her on the beach in Kyllini: “I am terribly happy, I thank all the people that supported me and waited for me to finish. People have from as far as Ioannina for me and that has moved me greatly.”