The Nautical Club of Vouliagmeni, or "NOV" is a major aquatic sports club, founded by local sportsmen in 1937 in the seaside resort of Vouliagmeni, south of Athens city centre, Greece. The club is located on the eastern edge of the Mikro Kavouri peninsula, adjacent to the Astir Palace Hotel and overlooking the bay, town and lake of Vouliagmeni. The club also takes particular pride in being an "extended family" for all its past and present athletes. Almost all its coaches and sports staff are past club athletes, and members are encouraged to involve their children in club sports from the youngest age possible.
Activities
The club admits members and their guests and operates a marina, a waterskiing school, junior and Olympic competition sailing boats and facilities, an open-air, heated swimming pool, two rocky beaches, members' indoor and outdoor lounges, reading and conference rooms, a first-aid station, a gym, and an upscale restaurant. The club publishes a quarterly illustrated newsletter, the "Tríaina", distributed free. As part of the celebrations for the club's seventy years, a memorial volume, "In Search of the Sporting Ideal", was published in 2008, in commemoration of the club's history. The volume chronicles the club's foundation and development, and pays particular tribute to the many club athletes who have taken part in Olympic Games and won Olympic medals. The most notable Olympic athlete to have been fostered at the club is windsurfer Nikolaos Kaklamanakis. The outdoor, heated pool hosts swimming, finswimming, synchronized swimming and water polo teams and the respective training schools for children. The club hosts two annual competition meetings for youngsters, the "Tzeláteia" swimming gala and the "Chatzitheodórou" water polo Cup, as well as annual water skiing and sailing events. In addition to regular training for its young athletes, the club organises training schools for beginners, open to all children interested in swimming, finswimming, water polo, boat sailing, windsurfing, synchronized swimming, and waterskiing. Four periods are offered per year in total, two during school season and two more during the summer vacations. Sports activities for members include aquarobics, aerobics, martial arts classes, long-distance sea swimming, water skiing, and Olympic and recreational sailing and windsurfing. The club also provides mooring for recreational boats owned by members. Several social events and functions are also held at the club, including concerts, art exhibitions, lectures, receptions, dinner parties, the Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve balls, the all-day "May Day at the Club" barbecue, and the midsummer "Full Moon Ball".
Crest and colours
The club crest depicts a blue anchor set inside a white lifebuoy with eight red stripes; blue, white and red being the club colors.
The women's and men's water polo teams are a traditional force in European water polo and have won many Greek and several European Championships and Cups. The club often hosts LEN Euroleague and LEN Cup tournaments, its star players consistently being capped for the Greek men's and women's national teams. The women's team are the reigning Greek champions and also the reigning European champions for the second consecutive year. In 2009 they won the LEN Champions' Cup in Kirishi, Russia, defeating the Italian champions, Orizzonte Catania, in the final. In 2010 they won the LEN Champions' Cup in Corfu, Greece, defeating the Russian champions, Kinef Kirishi, in the final. In addition to the men's and women's teams, the club maintains water polo teams for girls and boys aged 9 and upwards, and participates in all relevant youth competitions. All teams train under the supervision of head coaches Ioannis Giannouris and Alexia Kammenou, both former NOV players.
