More than 2,800 swimmers from 78 different countries took part in the 36th edition of the Intercontinental Bosphorus Swimming Race on Sunday, swimming across the strait that divides Istanbul in two and separates the continents of Europe and Asia.
In total, 2,836 participants – 1,967 men and 869 women – took part in this year’s edition, which started at 10 a.m. on 25 August from the shore of Kanlıca – on the Asian side of Istanbul – and ended at Kuruçeşme – on the European side – approximately 3 hours later.
Turkish agencies reported that in this edition the Turkish National Olympic Committee established a rigorous selection process among the participants, who had to undergo a pool test two weeks before the race to demonstrate their swimming skills.
Atakan Ercan finished first in this year’s race in the men’s category with a total time of 45 minutes and 27 seconds, while in the women’s category Talya Erdoğan finished in first place with 46 minutes and 57 seconds.
The Bosphorus International Swimming Race was first held on 23 July 1989 with only 68 swimmers, and since then each year has seen more and more participants taking on the challenge of swimming across the Bosphorus Strait. Another important crossing in Turkey, the Dardanelles Strait, also holds a similar race every September which is one of the oldest swimming competitions in the world, and that last year attracted around 1,000 swimmers from 17 countries.
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Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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