Five More Turkish Records Fall At Edirne Swimming Cup

2nd International Edirne Swimming Cup

• February 18th – February 21st, 2021
• Edirne, Turkey
• Long Course Meters (LCM)
• Results

Five new Turkish Turkish national record fell this weekend at the 2nd International Edirne Swimming Cup which took place in Edirne, Turkey. This means that Turkish Records have been broken in 23 events in the last 12 months, even amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

Among those record breakers over the weekend was Mert Kilavuz in the men’s 800 freestyle and 1500 freestyles.

In the 800, Kilaviz swam the first half of the race with fellow distance swimmer Yiğit Aslan who opened the race up with a 3:57.29 400 split, compared to Kilavuz’s 3:56.29. Ultimately, however, Kilavuz managed to pull ahead and win the event in a 7:54.77, knocking half a second off his previous PB and national record of 7:55.28 which he set in February 2020.

Aslan followed with silver, hitting an 8:02.97 for the silver medals. Rounding out the top 3 was Umut Yildirim‘s 8:04.79.

Mert Kilavuz nabbed another distance record over the weekend as he took nearly 10 seconds off the 1500 freestyle record, lowering it to a 15:06.42 from a 15:16.29. Unlike in the 800, Kilavuz didn’t hold the previous record, taking the 1500 mark from Mezir Karap who set it back in 2016. Kilavuz’s prior best time in the event was a 15:20.64 which he swam in December 2019.

On the women’s side of the distance freestyle, Merve Tuncel downed the 800 freestyle record with a winning swim of 8:27.38. That shaved 0.96 seconds off her national record in the event which previously sat at an 8:28.34. Tuncel’s closest competitor in the event was Deniz Ertan who came in 5 seconds after her with an 8:32.41 for bronze. Next was Duru Tanriverdi with an 8:46.83 for bronze. That was a best time for both of them, Ertan improving upon her 8:42.22 from last year and Tanriverdi beating her PB of 8:54.73.

Tuncel also currently holds the 1500 freestyle Turkish record at 16:03.23 from last year but opted to not swim the event this weekend.

While Tuncel notched a new record in the 800, she also lost a national record as Beril Böcekler lowered the 400 freestyle NR from Tuncels 4:06.83 to a 4:06.64. That’s a three-second improvement for Böcekler, bettering her 4:09.60. Behind Böcekler in the race, Gizem Güvenc swam a 4:14.12 for silver and Ecem Dönmez was a 4:19.68 for bronze.

Tuncel also raced the 200 butterfly this weekend, earning second place with a 2:11.54. That was enough to down Defne Taçyildiz‘s 15-16-year-old Turkish age group record of 2:11.58 from 2019 by just 0.04 seconds. While she lost the age group record, Taçyildiz was in the same heat as Tuncel and actually managed to lower the overall national record in the event from Nida Eliz Üstündag‘s 2:09.69 from 2019 to a 2:09.37. Previous record holder Nida Eliz Üstündag was actually also in the heat with Tuncel and Taçyildiz, earning a third-place finish with a 2:11.68. So as Taçyildiz lost her 15-6 record to Tuncel in the heat, so too did Üstündag lose her NR to Taçyildiz in the same heat.

Kregor Zirk, who recently began training with Turkey-based Fenerbahce swim club amid Energy Standard’s temporary dissolution made an appearance this weekend, winning the men’s 200 butterfly. Zirk hit a 1:59.86 for the victory which was within 2 seconds of his own Estonian record of 1:58.04 from the 2019 World Championships. He was met on the podium by Polat Uzer Turnali who came in at 2:02.25 for the silver medal and Boray Tuna Gören with a 2:03.21 for bronze.