Beytullah Eroğlu (born 25 September 1995) is a Turkish Paralympic swimmer. He competes in the disability category of S5 in freestyle,

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

and

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

, specializing in sprint events. He competed in the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

, at four

World Para Swimming Championships The World Para Swimming Championships, known also as the IPC Swimming World Championships, are the world championships for swimming where athletes with a disability compete. They are organised by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). Prev ...

and two IPC Swimming European Championships. At the 2017 World Championships, he won his country's first ever gold medal in Paralympic swimming.

Personal history

Beytullah Eroğlu was born to Mustafa Eroğlu and his wife Hilal in

Kahramanmaraş Kahramanmaraş (), historically Marash (; ) and Germanicea (), is a city in the Mediterranean Region, Turkey, Mediterranean region of Turkey and the administrative centre of Kahramanmaraş Province, Kahramanmaraş province. After 1973, Maraş was ...

, southern Turkey on 25 September 1995. He is the family's oldest of four children. He was born without arms and a leg shorter than the other. He had a secluded life in his childhood. He did not leave his home until the age of seven. The life of the introverted boy has changed when his father persisted in his schooling. He learned to use his foot for writing, and made friends with his classmates. As he became known in the local media, Osman Çullu, the chairman of the Kahramanmaraş Para Swimming Club and the national team coach, visited the family. He proposed Beytullah to learn swimming. However, the disabled child became very scared thinking how can he will be able to swim with not arms,. Later, he got persuaded, and began to exercise swimming with the help of a raft. It took six hard years to learn swimming. Performing sport made him a happy individual. "When asked where his arms are", he jokingly replies "they were too heavy, I left them at home". The tall physically disabled swimmer at is currently a student of physical education at

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

Swimming career

Eroğlu was inspired to try the competition swimming after watching the 2000 Olympic and

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia in the television. He also saw swimming as an opportunity to become more sociable. He began swimming in his hometown in 2001. His uncle

Şeref Eroğlu Şeref Eroğlu (born 25 November 1975, in Kahramanmaraş) is a Turkish Sport wrestling, wrestler. He won 6 times in Europe (1994-1996-1998-2001-2002-2003) and once in the World (1997). At the 2004 Athens Olympics, he competed at 66 kg and w ...

, silver medalist sport wrestler at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Greece, became a role model for him. He participated in competitive swimming first in 2007. He holds national records in seven events (59 m freestyle S5e, 50 m butterfly S5, 50 m backstroke S5, 100 m freestyle S5, 100 m breaststroke SB5, 200 freestyle S5 and 200 m individual medley SM5). Eroğlu internationally debuted at the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships in

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

, the Netherlands. He qualified for the Turkey national team for the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

London, United Kingdom London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. he participated at the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada. He won his first medal, a silver medal in the 50m Butterfly S5 event at the 2014 European Championships held in Eindhoven. Eroğlu won a bronze medal in the 50m Backstroke S5 at the

2015 IPC Swimming World Championships The 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships was the eighth IPC Swimming World Championships, an international swimming competition for athletes with a disability. It was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom and took place from 13 to 19 July. Around 580 ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland, and another bronze medal in the 50m Butterfly S5 event at the 2016 European Championships in

Funchal Funchal () officially Funchal City (), is the capital, largest city and a Municipality (Portugal), municipality in Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it ...

, Portugal. He represented his country at the

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, Brazil without reaching to any medal. Eroğlu took his country's first ever gold medal in

Paralympic swimming Para swimming is an adaptation of the sport of swimming for athletes with disabilities. Para swimmers compete at the Summer Paralympic Games and at other sports competitions throughout the world. The sport is governed by the International Paral ...

at the 2017 World Championships held in

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, Mexico in the 50m Butterfly S5 event. He won also a bronze medal in the 50m Backstroke S5 event of the same tournament. Eroğlu's disability swimming classification is S5 due to his limb deficiency as a

birth defect A birth defect is an abnormal condition that is present at birth, regardless of its cause. Birth defects may result in disabilities that may be physical, intellectual, or developmental. The disabilities can range from mild to severe. Birth de ...

. He is coached by Mehmet Fatih Kurt in the sports club

İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi S.K. Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, which gave him access to a swimming facility in

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

. His father Mustafa Eroğlu is his manager.

Achievements

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eroglu, Beytullah 1995 births Living people Turkish male butterfly swimmers Turkish male backstroke swimmers Turkish male freestyle swimmers Turkish male medley swimmers Sportsmen with disabilities S5-classified para swimmers Paralympic swimmers for Turkey Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Medalists at the World Para Swimming European Championships Islamic Solidarity Games gold medalists for Turkey Islamic Solidarity Games silver medalists for Turkey Islamic Solidarity Games medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games Istanbul University alumni İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyespor sportspeople Sportspeople from Kahramanmaraş 21st-century Turkish sportsmen