Paralympic gold medallist Charalambos Taiganidis was forced to halt his open-water swimming challenge off Cyprus after 32 hours of continuous swimming, having covered around 90 kilometres.
The attempt began unexpectedly on Wednesday night, at 10pm, from Paphos, rather than Friday morning as originally planned.
The change was deemed necessary by the athlete's team, in an effort to get ahead of forecast bad weather.
Taiganidis continued swimming for 32 consecutive hours, covering around 90 kilometres at sea. However, worsening weather ultimately forced the attempt to be halted.
According to a statement from his team, the Cyprus Port Police gave an explicit order for both the escort boats and the swimmer himself to leave the water immediately, due to dangerous weather conditions.
The decision to stop, it was noted, was not related to the athlete's condition.
His team said Charalambos Taiganidis was in good physical and mental condition and wanted to continue his attempt. However, faced with worsening conditions and instructions from the relevant authorities, the safety of everyone involved required that they leave the water.
Although the attempt was not completed, the Paralympian's team described it as yet another major test of endurance, willpower and mental strength, aimed at supporting the work of PASYKAF Cyprus.
Charalambos Taiganidis's team thanked the media, sponsors, his support team, and the public who stood by him throughout the effort.
