Aysu Türkoğlu (born 2 May 2001) is a Turkish

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

specializing in

open water swimming Open water swimming is a swimming discipline which takes place in outdoor bodies of water such as open oceans, lakes, and rivers. Competitive open water swimming is governed by the International Swimming Federation, World Aquatics (formerly kno ...

. , she has completed three of the Oceans Seven swimming events.

Early years in swimming

Aysu Türkoğlu started swimming at age seven in the Bodrum Swimming Club, inspired by her older sister Aynur, who was a swimmer competing at national level. In the years between 2015 and 2017, she took part in all four

swimming styles Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

of all different distances in the pool. Although successful in her age classes, she thought that "she was not fast enough in sprint swimming in pool", and so she chose

. In 2016, while studying in 9th grade, she swam for the first time in an interscholastic long-distance swim competition held at İçmeler, Marmaris,

Muğla Province Muğla Province (, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey, at the country's southwestern corner, on the Aegean Sea. Its area is 12,654 km2, and its population is 1 ...

, and became champion in the 6 km event. She performed

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...

for a while in 2018. However, she decided on endurance swimming for the future.

Open water swimming career

She won several titles in the 1.5 km, 3 km and 10 km events at the Marathon Masters Winter Championships and some local open water tournaments between 2017 and 2021. In the night of 29-30 July 2022, Türkoğlu swam the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

, a part of the Oceans Seven series, from England to

Cap Gris-Nez Cap Gris-Nez is a cape located in Audinghen, a commune in the Pas-de-Calais département of northern France. Part of the Côte d'Opale, it is classified as a protected natural area. Its cliffs mark the closest point of France to Great Britain, ...

, France in a time of 16:28 as the youngest swimmer. As the first Turkish woman and the youngest Turkish swimmer, she completed the -long North Channel between Ireland and Scotland, an Oceans Seven event, at 11:48.19 on 9 August 2022. She became champion in the 2 km, 3 km and 5 km events at the International Aquamasters Open Water Swimming Championship in

Bodrum Bodrum () is a town and district of Muğla Province, Turkey. About 200 thousand people live in the district, which covers 650 km2 and includes the town. It is a port town at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Known in ancient times as Hal ...

in October and in

Marmaris Marmaris () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Muğla Province, Turkey. Its area is 906 km2, and its population is 97,818 (2022). It is a port city and tourist resort on the Aegean Sea, Mediterranean coast, along the shorel ...

in November 2022. She swam the around -long

Cook Strait Cook Strait () is a strait that separates the North Island, North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, ...

in New Zealand, which is another Oceans Seven swim event, in a time of 7:21.40 on 20 March 2024.

Personal life

Aysu Türkoğlu was born to Mustafa Türkoğlu, a retired boat manufacturer, and his spouse Yurdakul, a municipality employee, in

district of

, southwestern Turkey on 2 May 2001. She has an older sister Aynur, also a swimmer. Türkoğlu was schooled in Cumhuriyet Primary School. She then attended Merkez Turgutreis Middle School, and Turgutreis Hayırlı Sabancı

Anatolian High School Anatolian High School, or Anadolu High School (), refers to public high schools in Turkey that admit their students according to high nationwide standardized test (LGS) scores, though this is not required for entering all Anatolian High Schools. ...

. After graduating from Bodrum Fen Bilimleri High School, she went on to study

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

in the Sports Science Faculty of

Ege University Ege University or Aegean University () is a public research university in Bornova, İzmir. It was founded in 1955 with the faculties of Medicine and Agriculture. It is the first university to start courses in İzmir and the fourth oldest unive ...

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turkoglu, Aysu 2001 births Living people People from Bodrum Sportspeople from Muğla Province Turkish female long-distance swimmers 21st-century Turkish sportswomen English Channel swimmers Cook Strait swimmers Ege University alumni

Early years in swimming

Open water swimming career

Personal life

See also

References