GLSA Award "Lucas Bistarakis"
It is presented to the Largest Adult Lifesaving Team of the Greek Lifesaving Cup.
Lucas Bistarakis was born in 1941 in Vagia of Viotea, Greece and learned to swim in founders, water holes and a faucet where the goats drunk water. In about half century he undertook several remarkable landmarked activities that enhanced lifesaving and spread the word and meaning of water safety nationwide. Particularly, he founded 17 lifesaving-scuba diving charities and organizations that were recognized by the government, he taught over 35.000 students on various aspects of aquatics and safety from over 30 nations (i.e. swimming, scuba diving, lifesaving, lifeguarding, first aid, and survival), he organized 4 national or international scuba diving-lifesaving conferences and performed dozens of aquatic rescue interventions as a lifeguard. Moreover, he established the first two legislations for pool and beach lifeguarding and published the first lifeguard booklet. In addition, Bistarakis envisioned that one day Greece would be able to organize national lifesaving sporting championships, prepare academically students to be teachers and lifeguards at university level and be able to develop water safety awareness to such a high degree that it would be possible to maintain one volunteer lifeguard at every beach and pool of the country.
Apart of his lifesaving related activities, Bistarakis also developed a multidimensional social voluntary activity. He founded the School of Summer Camp Officers, the first Baby-Sitting School, the Union of Friends of the Military Air Force, organized public exhibitions, parties and festivals for raising awareness and money that were spent for varied humanitarian purposes.
During his carrier, Bistarakis was both rewarded and punished for his aquatic and water safety activities. He got 18 awards and other commendations for his contribution to water safety from 9 countries. His humanitarian activities were endorsed and highly commented by ministers, prime ministers, princes and kings, general directors and officers of governing bodies, country ambassadors, famous artists, prestigious academics and his students in Greece and abroad. At the same time, he was criticized by his opponents for his work and was sent to court about 210 times where he fought for his rights to teach lifesaving on a voluntary basis and for his willingness to report events of national governing or institutional malfunction and corruption. Despite this high number of legal cases, Bistarakis was never sent to prison, because he was always announced innocent of charge. Lucas Bistarakis, is another fine example of a pioneer who not only contributed to the society in his era in his field of interest, but who was also penalized severely for this.
2020: Σύλλογος Αθλητικής Ναυαγοσωστικής "Ατλαντίς"
2021: Σύλλογος Αθλητικής Ναυαγοσωστικής "Ατλαντίς"
2022: Σύλλογος Αθλητικής Ναυαγοσωστικής "Ατλαντίς"
2023: Ναυτικός Όμιλος Καλύμνου "Πρωτέας"
2023: Ναυαγοσωστική Βορείου Ελλάδος
