14-Year Old Turkish Swimmer Demir Oezdemir Drops Record 52.68 in 100 Free

Turkish Junior Long Course Championships

• July 22-24, 2022
• Sivas, Turkey
• Long Course Meters (50 meters)
• Girls Born 2009, Boys born 2008-2009 (separated by age)
• Meet Results

Turkish 14-year old Demir Oezdemir has re-broken his own National Age Record in the 100-meter freestyle racing this weekend at the Turkish Junior Long Course Championships in Sivas.

Oezdemir broke the record in a relay leadoff leg in the 14-year olds’ age group. He split 52.68, which cut more than three-tenths off his own record set in May of this year at 53.04. That record in turn broke the mark set by famed Turkish-American swimmer and 1994 World Champion Ugur Taner.

That swim contributed to a time of 3:44.57 for the relay team that missed the Turkish Record by just .15 seconds.

Oezdemir’s time makes him the fastest 14-year old in Europe in the event. In the last year, he has broken 25 records (16 individual and 9 relays).

Oezdemir later won the individual 100 free at the meet in 53.38.

Oezdemir also broke the Turkish Age Record for 14-year olds in the 50 backstroke twice: first in the individual event in 27.59, and then on a relay leadoff in 27.30. Those both undercut his own record, also from May, of 27.76.

His other wins on the weekend:

• 50 free – 24.30
• 100 free – 53.38
• 50 back – 27.59 (New Turkish Age Record)
• 100 back – 1:00.71
• 200 free relay (23.93 leadoff split) – 1:41.93 (New Turkish Age Record)
• 200 medley relay (27.30 backstroke split – New Turkish Age Record) – 1:52.84 (New Turkish Age Record)
• 400 medley relay (1:01.03 backstroke split) – 4:12.27

Demir Oezdemir with his coach Tuncay Itri Vanlı. Courtesy: Tuncay Itri Vanlı

He split 1:58.30 to anchor Fenerbahce’s 3rd-place 800 free relay as well, plus a 24.71 on their 2nd-place mixed 200 free relay, and a 27.72 backstroke leadoff split on their 3rd-place mixed 200 medley relay.

Oezdemir trains with the Fenerbahce Sports Club, a massive century-old multi-sport club in Istanbul. The club boasts some of the country’s most successful teams in sports like basketball, soccer, and volleyball.

There he is coached by Tuncay Itri Vanlı.

Other Individual Turkish Age Records Broken:

• Boys’ 50 free, 13 year olds – Kirhan Yilmaz, 24.52 (breaking his own 24.86 from March)
• Boys’ 50 back, 13 year olds – Kirhan Yilmaz, 28.08 (breaking Oezdemir’s 28.26 from July 2021)
• Boys’ 50 fly, 14 year olds – Yavuz Oemer Aga, 26.00 (breaking Sarpcan Tezel’s 26.28 from 2017)