Spyridon Gianniotis is a swimmer who has competed for Greece.
He qualified for the Greek team at the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympic Games. He started his Olympic journey as a long-distance freestyle swimmer in the pool events before shifting his full attention to open water marathon at his fourth straight Games in 2012.
After missing out of medals in London, Gianniotis successfully ascended to the podium with a silver medal in the 10 kilometres open water marathon at his fifth Olympics in Rio de Janeiro four years later. He was provisionally identified as the gold medalist in the event when he appeared to cross the finish line first but the Dutchman Ferry Weertman touched the time pad before him. After 15 minutes of deliberation by the judges and the use of photo finish, the gold medal was officially awarded to Weertman with Gianniotis handed the silver, as both were credited with the same time (1:52:59.8). In the final race of his career, Gianniotis, the oldest competitor at the age of 36, won the first medal for Greece in swimming since the inaugural 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens.
