Thousands of athletes race in Bosphorus

ISTANBUL – Anadolu Agency

DHA photo

Thousands of athletes from around the world competed July 26 in the 27th Samsung Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swimming Race, crossing between two continents on Istanbul’s Bosphorus.

The race, organized by the National Olympics Committee of Turkey (TMOK), started from the Kanlıca Pier on the Asian side of the Bosphorus and ended on the European side in front of Kuruçeşme Cemil Topuzlu Park in a roughly 6.5-kilometer course.

This year’s race witnessed record participation with a total of 1,870 athletes from 49 countries competing in the Bosphorus waters, surrounded by the unique sights of Istanbul. Some 460 athletes were women, among whom 203 were Turkish.

In the men’s section, Berkan Coşkun came first ahead of Emre Öztürk and Italian Claudio Gargaro in second and third, respectively. In the women’s general, Nilay Erkal came first, Deniz Güngöroğlu came in second and British athlete Jessica Wooddisse came third.

“It is a great feeling to be first. It was a harder course than in previous years,” said Coşkun, expressing his happiness.

British swimmer Adam Walker, a swimmer and motivational speaker who was the guest of honor at this year’s race, started the race 10 minutes earlier and welcomed the athletes on the shore.

“It was a great race. I have raced on seven oceans before but this one was the best,” he said.