Türkiye marks landmark achievements in global swimming contests

ANKARA

Türkiye has scored a remarkable achievement in swimming, as Emre Sakçı earned a silver medal and ultra-marathon swimmer Bengisu Avcı triumphed with three gold medals at prestigious international championships.

Sakçı finished second in the men's 50-meter breaststroke at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships with a time of 25.56 seconds, closely trailing Chinese gold medalist Qin Haiyang, who finished in 25.42 seconds. Russian swimmer Kirill Prigoda shared the silver with Sakçı, both finishing with the same time.

Türkiye finished the championship with both a silver and bronze medal, as Kuzey Tunçelli claimed bronze in the men's 1500-meter freestyle, setting a new world junior record.

Avcı, on the other hand, initially placed first on the winning podium in the 1000-meter race in water below 5 degrees Celcius at the International Ice Swimming Association (IISA) World Championships, which attracted 256 competitors from 19 different nations.

On the second day of the competition, Avcı managed to reach the top of the podium once more in the 100-meter breaststroke. She also outperformed her competitors in the 4x50-meter race, winning the gold medal with a team that included Berker Göker, İrem Damar and Egor Tropeano.

In a statement, Avcı noted that they successfully overcame a very challenging championship, adding that competing in the frigid waters of Europe was fairly difficult after practicing in warm seas such as the Aegean and Marmara.

"We are practicing diligently to offset the disadvantage we face against our rivals. We have adapted our bodies to swimming in extremely cold temperatures thanks to our cold water camp in [the northwestern province of] Çanakkale,” she noted. “We are thrilled to yield the outcomes of our trainings. We performed well during the competition process, prior to the Ice Swimming World Championship in Molveno, Italy, in January.”

Avcı became the first Turkish woman to swim through the Catalina Channel, one of the seven ocean tracks in the world, in 2022.