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Sanberk Yigit Oktar from Istanbul, Turkey, has announced his verbal commitment to the University of Southern California’s class of 2028. He wrote on social media:
“I am extremely excited to announce my verbal commitment to continue my academic and athletic studies at the University of Southern California. I am grateful to all of my coaches, my family, my school, and my friends for their tremendous encouragement and support over the past years. I like to especially thank Coach Brooks Fail, Coach Peter Richardson, and Coach Lea Maurer for this amazing opportunity. Go Trojans!✌️✌️✌️”
Oktar trains with Zafer Koleji Spor Kulubu Dernegi and swims internationally for Turkey. Last summer, he took home a gold medal in the 200 IM (2:00.68) at 2022 LEN European Championships. He also swam leadoff (1:49.39) on the 4×200 free relay that scored the silver medal behind Italy and broke Turkey’s national record with 7:20.99.
Oktar then won the 200 IM at the FINA 8th World Junior Championships in Lima, Peru, with the only sub-2:00 performance in the field. His winning time of 1:59.89 broke the Turkish national record of 2:00.04, set by Berke Saka at the 2021 European Junior Championships. Saka reclaimed the record at the Turkish National Championships in December 2022. At the same meet, Oktar won the 400 IM and broke the Turkish record with 4:20.98.
Best LCM times (converted)
- 200 free – 1:49.39 (1:35.66)
- 200 IM – 1:59.89 (1:45.12)
- 400 IM – 4:20.98 (3:49.35)
Oktar will join the Trojans’ class of 2028 with Nathan Wu and Thomas Olsen. His converted times would have scored in the C finals of the 200 free and 400 IM at the 2023 Pac-12 Men’s Championships.
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SC trying the foreign athlete path to respectability
RIP his swimming. USC men a dumpster fire…
Another Alexei Sancov-type international stud commits to USC only to never improve past HS best times🙃
That 2 IM conversion at only 1:45 is laughable
Yea, I mean win gold at Junior Worlds and then score in the C final at Pac-12s. LOL.
1:59 is elite.
As a 1:45 2IMer, I would say it’s in the 2:02-2:03 LC range
1:59 is probably 1:41-1:42.