Ecem Güzel (born 23 February 1995) is a Turkish

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

who specializes in the

Laser Radial The Laser Radial or ILCA 6 is a popular one-design class of small sailing dinghy, originally built by Laser Performance. It is a singlehanded boat, meaning that it is sailed by one person. The Laser Radial is a variant of the Laser standard, ...

class. She is a member of the

Galatasaray Sailing Galatasaray Sailing Team is the men's and women's sailing section of Galatasaray S.K., a major sports club in Istanbul, Turkey. There are optimist, finn, Laser Radial, Laser Standard, Mistral Mistral may refer to: * Mistral (wind) in souther ...

team. Güzel competed at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games for Turkey.

Personal life

Güzel was born on 23 February 1995 in Pendik,

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

, and grew up in

Bodrum Bodrum () is a port city in Muğla Province, southwestern Turkey, at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Its population was 35,795 at the 2012 census, with a total of 136,317 inhabitants residing within the district's borders. Known in ancient ...

. She is a student of sports administration at

Marmara University Marmara University ( Turkish: ''Marmara Üniversitesi'') is a public university in Istanbul, Turkey. The university is named after the Sea of Marmara and was founded as a university in 1982. However, it was created in 1883 under the name of ''H ...

. Her mother, Alev Özdinçer, is a financial adviser and sailing referee.

Sports career

Güzel became interested in sailing at age 10 during a summer vacation in Bodrum, on the

Turkish Riviera The Turkish Riviera ( tr, Türk Rivierası), also known popularly as the Turquoise Coast, is an area of southwest Turkey encompassing the provinces of Antalya and Muğla, and to a lesser extent Aydın, southern İzmir and western Mersin. Th ...

. She attended a sailing course; her mother had to obtain a loan to cover Güzel's training expenses. She learned that the Optimist dinghy is a type designed for young people and started sailing in that class because of her young age. She gained experience at the Era Yachting Bodrum club.

Turgutreis Belediyespor

Güzel joined Turgutreis Belediyespor, a local club in Bodrum, and began to compete there in 2009. She chose the

as it is an Olympics sailing class. Güzel debuted internationally at the 2009 Laser Europa Cup held in

Scarlino Scarlino is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Grosseto in the Italian region Tuscany, located about southwest of Florence and about northwest of Grosseto. Scarlino borders the following municipalities: Castiglione della Pescaia, Fol ...

, Italy, in her second or third regatta.

Galatasaray Sailing

Taking notice of Güzel's passion at international competitions, the

-based club

transferred her from Bodrum in 2013. In 2013, Güzel was silver medalist at the 46th Balkan Sailing Championship held in

Ohrid Ohrid ( mk, Охрид ) is a city in North Macedonia and is the seat of the Ohrid Municipality. It is the largest city on Lake Ohrid and the List of cities in North Macedonia, eighth-largest city in the country, with the municipality recording ...

, North Macedonia. She placed second at the Athens Eurolymp Week in March 2014. In July, Güzel ranked ninth at the Laser Standard & Radial - European Youth Championship in

Nago–Torbole Nago–Torbole (''Nach e Tùrbule'' in local dialect) is a ''Communes of Trentino, comune'' (municipality) in Trentino in the northern Italy, Italian region Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, located about southwest of Trento on the north shore of La ...

, Italy and in August ranked sixth at the Laser Radial & Standard - U21 World Championship in

Douarnenez Douarnenez (, ; meaning ''douar'' (land) ''an enez'' (the island) or land of the island), is a commune in the French department of Finistère, region of Brittany, northwestern France. It is located at the mouth of the Pouldavid River, an estua ...

, France. Güzel won a gold medal in the Laser Radial class at the 47th Balkan Sailing Championship in Constanța, Romania, in September 2014 and in December placed seventh at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne in Australia. In September 2016, Güzel won a gold medal at the 49th Balkan and Open Sailing Championship in Greece. At the 2017 Laser Radial World Championships, she placed 37th. Güzel ranked eighth at the

2018 Mediterranean Games The 2018 Mediterranean Games ( es, Juegos Mediterráneos de 2018), officially known as the XVIII Mediterranean Games ( es, XVIII Juegos Mediterráneos) and commonly known as Tarragona 2018, was an international multi-sport event held from 22 Jun ...

Tarragona Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tarr ...

, Spain. Despite being unsuccessful at the

2018 Sailing World Championships The 2018 Hempel Sailing World Championships were held in Aarhus, Denmark, from 30 July to 12 August 2018. It was the fifth edition of the Sailing World Championships. It was the world championships for all disciplines used at the next olympics ...

, Güzel finished in 10th place at the 2019 Women's Laser Radial World Championship held in

Sakaiminato is a city in Tottori Prefecture, Japan. In 2016, it had an estimated population of 33,888. History An Imperial decree in July 1899 established Sakai as an open port for trading with the United States and the United Kingdom. Sakaiminato was fou ...

, Japan, qualifying her to compete at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

. She took the bronze medal in the Laser Radial class at the Coaches-Pre-WM-Regatta competition held in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia. At the 2020 Women's Laser Radial World Championship in Melbourne, Güzel placed 29th. The Turk-Nippon Insurance Company announced that it will sponsor Güzel for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guzel, Ecem Living people 1995 births People from Pendik Sportspeople from Istanbul Turkish sportswomen Turkish female sailors (sport) Laser Radial class sailors Galatasaray Sailing sailors Marmara University alumni Olympic sailors of Turkey Sailors at the 2020 Summer Olympics – Laser Radial Competitors at the 2022 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games medalists in sailing 21st-century Turkish sportswomen