Antonios Pepanos was a Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 swimmer. He was a member of Gymnastiki Etaireia Patron, which merged with Panachaikos Gymnastikos Syllogos in 1923 to become Panachaiki Gymnastiki Enosi.

Before the 1896 Summer Olympics

1896 Summer Olympics

The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was a multi-sport event celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first international Olympic Games held in the Modern era...

 in Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

, Pepanos was hesitating about taking part due to the fact he was already 30 years old and past his prime. Finally, that great swimmer competed in the 500 metres freestyle

Freestyle swimming

Freestyle is an unregulated swimming style used in swimming competitions according to the rules of FINA. The front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a freestyle race, as this style is generally the fastest...

 event. He finished second with a time of 9:57.6. The winner, Austrian Paul Neumann

Paul Neumann (swimmer)

Paul Neumann was an Austrian swimmer and physician, who competed at the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens and became the first Austrian gold medalist ever.-Biography:...

, had finished in 8:12.6.