In recent years, the nation of Turkey had slowly been on the rise to being amongst the world’s swimming powerhouses.
At the 2016 Olympic Games, Turkey only qualified 4 swimmers to compete, which included 3 women and 1 man.
Looking ahead to the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, the nation is already expected to double the number of swimmers competing in the games, based on the FINA Olympic selection criteria. Currently, 28 different Turkish athletes are under the FINA A and B standards. Of those, 4 different women, and 2 different men currently hold FINA A cuts, allowing for priority selection for the games.
As a result of this progress, Turkey won the 2020 Swammy “National Development Award”, commentating the nation’s progress in the pool. In addition, breaststroker Emre Sakci received the Swammy for “Breakout Performer of the Year” due to his impressive showing at the International Swim League.
With these cuts coming at a number of different meets across two months, it’s worth summarizing where Turkey’s Olympic qualifying situation currently stands. Among the country’s current Olympic qualifiers, Beril Boecekler stands out with 3 FINA A cuts. Sakci leads all men’s qualifiers, with one A-cut and two B-cuts.
Currently, there are two events in which Turkey is likely to be entering two swimmers into at the Olympics, as they have at least two swimmers achieving FINA A-cuts: the men’s 100 breaststroke and the women’s 1500 freestyle. Both events currently have at least 2 swimmers under the FINA A-Cut, and multiple swimmers under the FINA-B cut. In those events, the two fastest swimmers in each event during the qualification period will be named to the Olympic team. In events in which the nation only has swimmers under the FINA-B cut, only one athlete may represent Turkey in the Olympics in each event.
Notably, Turkey does not have any relays qualified to compete at the Games, as none of them finished within the top-12 relays at the 2019 World Championships or within the top 4 of the remaining non-qualified relays.
The Olympic qualification period is March 1st, 2019 through June 27th, 2021 for athletes around the world.
The priority order for qualification places will be as they have been in the past as follows:
- All athletes with Olympic Qualifying Times (OQT / “A” Time)
- Athletes in relays
- Universality Places
- Invited athletes who have achieved an Olympic Selection Time (OST / “B” time)
FINA A/B Cuts:
Men (**denotes FINA A-Cut)
50 Free
- SAKCI, Emre (22.19)
100 free
- SAKCI, Emre (49.43)
- UNLU, Batur (49.87)
200 free
- UNLU, Batur (1:47.08)
- GEZMIS, Ergecan (1:49.35)
400 free
- GEZMIS, Ergecan (3:52.64)
- UENLUE, Baturalp (3:53.15)
800 free
- KILAVUZ, Mert (7:56.12)
- ASLAN, Yigit (7:58.83)
1500 free
- ASLAN, Yigit (15:19.00)
- KILAVUZ, Mert (15:20.64)
100 backstroke
- AYDIN, Metin (55.27)
200 backstroke
- SAKA, Berke (2:00.22)
100 butterfly
- AYAR, Kaan Tuerker (52.52)
- GUERES, Uemitcan (51.97)
- OEZKUL, Berk (53.50)
200 butterfly
- No Qualifiers
100 breaststroke
- SAKCI, Emre (58.85) **
- OEGRETIR, Berkay Oemer (59.54)**
- DEMIR, Demirkan (1:00.84)
200 breaststroke
- OEGRETIR, Berkay Oemer (2:09.86)**
- DEMIR, Demirkan (2:11.85)
200 IM
- AYDIN, Metin (2:00.95)
- OERNEK, Alpkan (2:02.54)
- SAKA, Berke (2:03.25)
400 IM
- No qualifiers
Women (**denotes FINA A-Cut)
50 Free
- OZBILEN, Selen (25.48)
100 free
- OZBILEN, Selen (55.30)
- GUVENC, Gizem (55.40)
200 free
- GUVENC, Gizem (1:58.24)
- BOECEKLER, Beril (2:00.62)
400 free
- BOECEKLER, Beril (4:09.60)**
- TUNCEL, Merve (4:12.74)
800 free
- TUNCEL, Merve (8:28.34)**
- BOECEKLER, Beril (8:32.65)**
- TUNCEL, Merve (8:43.24)
- ERTAN, Deniz (8:48.09)
1500 free
- TUNCEL, Merve (16:03.23)**
- BOECEKLER, Beril (16:21.39)**
- TUNCEL, Merve (16:29.24)**
- ERTAN, Deniz (16:42.56)
- TOPCU, Buse (16:59.68)
- TANRIVERDI, Duru (17:00.38)
- TANRIVERDI, Ece (17:01.50)
100 backstroke
- AVRAMOVA, Ekaterina (1:01.23)
200 backstroke
- AVRAMOVA, Ekaterina (2:11.90)
- DENIZLI, Sudem (2:13.51)
100 butterfly
- No Qualifiers
200 butterfly
- TACYILDIZ, Defne (2:10.22)
- USTUNDAG, Nida Eliz (2:11.09)
- BILGIN, Zehra-Duru (2:11.70)
100 breaststroke
- GUNES, Viktoria Zeynep (1:09.05)
200 breaststroke
- GUNES, Viktoria Zeynep (2:27.67)
200 IM
- GUNES, Viktoria Zeynep (2:12.40)**
400 IM
- GUNES, Viktoria Zeynep (4:44.31)