GA Tech Commit Saka Among Turkish Olympic Qualifiers From Edirne

INTERNATIONAL TURKCELL OPEN (TUR)

• April 22nd – April 25th
• Edirne, Turkey
• LCM (50m)
• Results

The International Turkcell Open combined both Juinor and Senior swimming in Edirne, Turkey, with the competition spanning April 22nd through April 25th. Several key athletes made their marks at this Olympic-qualifying event, with the top races outlined below.

Key Swims

• Already world-ranked Merve Tuncel turned some heads in the mid-distance freestyle events once again. The 16-year-old posted a winning effort of 4:07.78 to take the 400m free while also nailing a top time of 8:26.06 in the 800m free. Tuncel already turned in a season-best of 4:06.83 last December in the former event to rank 12th in the world. Her 800m free time here, however, checks in as a lifetime best. It not only took over her previous career-quickest of 8:27.38 from this past February, but it also now inserts her onto the list of top 10 performers in the world this season in slot #10. You can read more about here Turkish record-breaking 800m free swim here.
• Incoming Georgia Tech commit Berke Saka made his mark in the men’s 200m backstroke, stopping the clock in a mark of 1:57.36. That outing sliced .31 off of his previous PB of 1:57.67 he produced just last month. That slim of a difference, however, rendered Saka an Olympic qualifier, dipping under the FINA ‘A’ cut of 1:57.50 needed for this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo.
• In the men’s breaststroke events, Berkay Oegretir clinched victories in both the 100m and 200m events. In the former, he notched a mark of 59.87 to take the gold, with the result checking in as the man’s 3rd fastest performance ever. He also nailed a result of 2:11.94 in the latter distance.
• The men’s 100m fly saw Uemitcan Gueres grab gold in a time of 51.91, a new lifetime best. He entered this meet with a career-quickest effort of 51.97 from December 2019, so he managed to slice .06 en route to topping the podium. He additionally made it an Olympic-qualifying swim, limboing under the FINA ‘A’ cut of 51.96 needed for the Games.