In the past and in the late 40s or early 50s only men were entitled to get involved in sports in Crete. Women were excluded from all sports but tennis. The first one who rose against that system in swimming and basketball was Evdokia ( Kitsa) Vassiliadou. Some years later, in 1957, she started walking and mountaineering with the Alpine Club of Heraklion. In an oldest interview of hers in a local paper Kitsa said many important things, some of which are repeated below.

The most grotesque event that has happened to me was at some swimming races in Agios Nikolaos. Then the local people found various excuses to nullify all participants who didn't come from Agios Nikolaos!! While a boatman was trying to stop me in the middle of a race I pulled him off and dropped him into the sea!!

A few more words about an extremely interesting life:

I must have loved the sea since I was very young. My parents taught me how to swim when I was five. Later, when I was a schoolgirl, my mother used to take us from our cottage in Kokkini Chani and starting before dawn took us on foot to all fairs in the nearby villages and small country churches teaching us in this way to love walking!

As a High School student I dealt with athletics; I ran 60 m and high jumped. In 1954 I became a member of the basketball team of OFI (the local team) and took my swimming id card in OFI again. In 1957 I started hiking and became an active member of the Alpine Club. Up to now and apart from the gym I have been walking mainly in places that have remained untouched by our technocratic, emotionless times.