Turkish swimmer sets Euro record in 50m breaststroke

ANKARA-Anadolu Agency

Turkish swimmer Emre Sakçı on Nov. 5 made history, breaking his own and the European record in the men's 50-meter breaststroke category.

"Turkish swimmer @Sakciemree [Emre Sakçı] won in the 50M Breaststroke, setting a new European record of 25.29 seconds that was only 0.04 seconds away from breaking the world record (25.25)!," the International Swimming League (ISL) said on Instagram, covering the competition in Budapest, Hungary.

Sakçı, 22, last month broke the record in the same competition – the ISL – with a time of 25.50.

Retired South African athlete Cameron van der Burgh still has the short course world record in men's 50-meter breaststroke with 25.25 seconds, set in the Berlin leg of the 2009 International Swimming Federation (FINA) World Cup.

Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoğlu, Turkey’s youth and sports minister, congratulated Sakçı on setting a new record and wished him success in the future.

Sakçı honors quake victims in Turkey

In his victory, Sakçı also commemorated the victims of last week’s earthquake in İzmir, on the Turkish Aegean.

Before Thursday's contest in Hungary, Sakçı wrote "İzmir" on his chest in honor of quake victims.

After winning the breaststroke, Sakçı made a heart-shape hand gesture over the word İzmir on his chest to show his solidarity and support.

Last week's deadly quake in İzmir saw buildings reduced to rubble. There were emotional scenes as rescue workers pulled out survivors.

The death toll from the magnitude-6.6 quake rose to 114 as of Nov. 4, and over 1,000 were injured.