“Frankly, with what is going on in the country, we are all very much affected. Back in Greece, human lives are at stake. I don’t believe that a victory can ease the pain of what is happening. We are saddened by what is happening in Greece, we hope that no one is in danger. Under these circumstances, we’d like to apologize in advance for our joy and enthusiasm. With all due respect, we will celebrate this success and reflect on what is happening back in Greece.”
Greece’s national water polo team has just defeated the perennial power Hungary in the semi-final of the Tokyo Olympics, held in August 2021, securing the first Olympic medal in its history. But captain Ioannis Fountoulis showed the world he wasn’t just a great athlete—like his teammates and coaches, above all else, he is a great person.
Fountoulis was born in 1988 on the beautiful island of Chios, which is famous for two things: the international renowned tree resin known as ‘masticha’, and its water polo tradition. Together with Olympiacos and Vouliagmeni, Nautical Club Chios is one of the three teams that have never dropped out of the first division since its founding in 1986-87. So there was simply no way that Fountoulis wouldn’t take to water polo, especially since he spent his summers at his grandparents’ summer house, where he was always in the sea with his friends.
The coach of the Reds and the national team, Thodoris Vlachos, always relied on Fountoulis for his leadership and how he provided a vision of success for his younger teammates.
And because his father and uncle were both swimmers at the same Club.
Nevertheless, he would go on to achieve something unique: leaving the Chios club at the age of 21 as the top scorer in the league in 2009, he would join Olympiacos, where he managed to stand out in a top-flight team, and to become its captain for many years. In fact, he remains an active athlete to this day. At the same time, he has achieved a great deal with the national team. At his side, he had a true comrade, and another native of Chios, in Georgios Ntoskas, who helped him adapt to the Reds.
A born winner, Fountoulis was a perfect fit for the DNA of Olympiacos, which he left only briefly when he transferred to an international powerhouse of water polo, Hungary’s Ferencváros, where he played between 2019 and 2021 – an experience unparalleled for any Greek athlete in terms of professionalism, facilities, and amenities.
He returned to his great love, Olympiacos, more mature than ever and he’ll be ending his prolific career here—although there’s no rush! As long as he’s able and remains competitive, Fountoulis wants to swim and fight for every play, just like he did as a seven-year-old when he first took up the sport. Of course, it was his childhood friends who insisted he stay in the game, which he didn’t love at first. But once water polo finally won him over, he was the first to dive into the pool and the last to leave.
The milestone year in his life, both sports- and family-wise, arrived in 2018. First, in April, his daughter Myra was born and changed his world; two months later, he made history with Olympiacos by winning the 2017–18 LEN Champions League in Genoa. The Reds beat a home team in the final again, this time the Italian powerhouse Pro Recco, after first overcoming Real Madrid. All of Europe was talking about Olympiacos scaling the summit of European water polo for the second time in its history after 2002.
The Olympiacos and Greek national team coach, Thodoris Vlachos always believed in Ioannis, his leadership skills, and his ability to inspire his younger teammates.
Always there
He remained true to Olympiacos even in the difficult year of 2011, when the Club embarked on a major effort to cover the arrears of previous years. It was then that Fountoulis threw himself into studying to complete his degree in finance. In fact, he even took private lessons to catch up, with the understanding and support of his coach. After a total restart made possible by the unconditional support of Evangelos Marinakis and under the guidance of Michalis Kountouris, Fountoulis emerged as a leading div in the significant growth and development of the amateur sports department.
In 2019, Olympiacos beat Pro Recco, but lost in the final to Ferencváros–just before Fountoulis moved to the latter–after a thrilling match. The Reds came back from 10-7 down to send the match into a penalty shootout (10-10). Three shots (by Gounas, Mylonakis and Argyropoulos) hit the opposition posts, and so the dream of Olympiacos becoming back-to-back Champions League champions was not to be, with the Hungarian team winning their first title in the competition.
Holding the 2023 champion’s trophy. The captain keeps on adding to his trophy collection and leading Olympiacos to new heights.
Four Olympic Games
In Paris, Fountoulis participated in the fourth Olympic Games of his career. It would have been his five, if the army had been a little more understanding about his military service in 2008. When he showed up at boot camp just before the national team began its pre-Games preparation, the plan was him to stay for two to three days. In the end, though, the army kept him for a straight 40, which irked Sandro Campagna, who cut him from the squad for the Beijing Games, despite his having been an outstanding member of the Greek team wince he was first called up to play for the seniors at the age of 17.
The player had received assurances from the swimming federation that he would be given permission to train regularly with the national team, yet he got caught up in the gears of Greece’s proverbial bureaucracy. So instead of playing at the Beijing Olympics, he got to spend 40 days at a military camp in Corinth.
His Olympic debut came four years later in London, where he looked like a kid in an amusement park, enjoying every moment in the Olympic Village and meeting top athletes such as Rafael Nadal and the players of the US basketball team. He loves sports and going out, watches Giannis Antetokounmpo on television whenever he can, and never misses any of Stefanos Tsitsipas’ tennis matches.
Passing on principles and values to future generations
The great water polo player’s main asset is his tremendous long-range shoot, as well as his intelligent play. He has long since surpassed 1,000 goals in the Greek league, while with Olympiacos he has won 12 Greek championships, 11 Cups, one Super Cup and, of course, the Champions League in Europe. His legacy is great and an inspiration to the next-generation leaders of Olympiacos and the national team.
A prime example is the current captain of the Reds, Dinos Genidounias.
He studied in Los Angeles while playing polo. When the Olympiacos offer arrived, he didn’t have to think about it at all. He put on the red cap in 2015 at the age of just 21, and became one of the top players at the club and in the national team. Having just completed 10 years at the club he holds dear, he had this to say in a recent interview with in.gr:
“I feel blessed to be the captain of this huge team, this historic Club, and in a season where it is turning 100 years old. It is the most beautiful fairy tale… if they had told me some years ago that I would get to live it in real life, I would have said such things don’t even happen in fairy tales.”
With Olympiacos, Genidounias has already won nine Greek Championships and nine Greek Cups. Plus, of course the, Champions League in 2018 in Italy, which was a milestone for him, as well.
