Emre Onus Breaks 2 Turkish Age Records; 4 National Relay Records Fall at Turkish Winter Champs

2025 Turkish Winter Swimming Championships (Junior, Youth, and Open)

• December 24-28, 2025
• Antalya, Turkey
• Short Course Meters (25m)
• Full Meet Results

Club relay teams broke four Turkish National Records and a handful of national age records fell as well at the Turkish Winter Swimming Championships that concluded Sunday in Antalya.

In the men’s 200 breaststroke, Doruk Yogurtcuoglu won in 2:05.18. That shaved .06 seconds off his National Age Records for both 17 years olds and 18 years olds that were set earlier this month at the European Short Course Championships.

While Turkey has had a great sprint breaststroker in Emre Sakci, they haven’t had as much success in the 200. The current national record is a 2:03.78 done in 2020.

The other two records on the boys’ side both came in IM races. In the 200 IM, Emre Onus finished 2nd behind Berke Saka in 1:55.56. That broke Onus’ own record for 17-year-olds but also cleared Saka’s record for 18 year olds of 1:55.75.

Saka is the overall National Record holder in 1:52.25 from the European Championships earlier this month that earned him a bronze medal.

In the 400 IM, Onus won the race in 4:11.33. That shattered Onur Oksuz‘s national record for 17-year-olds of 4:13.09 done in 2024. Onus’ extension into the 400 IM is relatively new – his previous best in short course was 4:26 and a week before this meet he swam a lifetime best of 4:23 in long course.

17-year-old Ahmet Mete Boylu very nearly broke a Turkish Age Record in winning the men’s 200 free. He touched in 1:45.03, exactly one tenth off the national record for 17-year-olds that was set in 2019 by Olympian Batur Unlu.

Unlu swam collegiately at Georgia Tech; Boylu has not yet announced a college commitment, but does have a profile set up on recruiting sites and is followed on social media by several top American collegiate programs and coaches. The United States and NCAA system has become a primary adult training destination for a growing group of talented young Turkish swimmers.

Boylu also won the 400 free (3:44.00).

Relay Records

Maybe the biggest sign of Turkey’s improved depth is the fact that five National Relay Records were broken at the meet by club teams. It’s not uncommon for club relays to break Turkish relay records – many of their best swimmers are concentrated in the country’s two powerhouse multi-sport clubs Fenerbahce and Galatasaray. But one of these records was previously set by a national team relay.

The record list included a tie for the win in the men’s 200 free relay between those two clubs, with both dipping under the old record.

• (TIE) Men’s 200 free relay – Galatasaray, 1:25.94 (Emre Gurdenli, Efe Hacisalihoglu, Demir Ozdemir, Berke Saka) + Fenerbahce, 1:25.94 (Arda Akkoyun, Mehmet Kocak, Efe Sarac, Emre Sakci) – old record, national team, 1:26.25 from December 2018 – Sakci split 20.97 on the anchor
• Men’s 400 free relay – Galatasaray, 3:11.19 (Gurdenli, Ozdemir, Boylu, Saka) – old record 3:12.02, Fenerbahce from December 2023 – Previous record included Emre Sakci
• Men’s 400 medley relay – Fenerbahce, 3:27.52 (Mert Ali Satir, Berkay Ogretir, Yavuz Aga, Sakci) – old record 3:27.87, Fenerbahce from December 2022
• Women’s 800 free relay – Fenerbahce, 7:56.94 (Meric Demirtepe, Gizem Guvenc, Deniz Ertan, Ecem Donmez) – old record 7:57.90, Fenerbahce from December 2022

Other Meet Highlights

• One of the country’s biggest stars Kuzey Tuncelli won his specialty races the distance freestyles, topping the 800 free in 7:44.97 and the 1500 free in 15:32.44.He’s coming off an 8th-place finish at the European Short Course Championships earlier this month in the 1500 and is committed to swim at the University of Texas in the United States in the future.
• 16-year-old Beren Basaran won the women’s 100 free in 54.79. She had previously never been under 56 seconds, and that was just .15 seconds shy of the Turkish Age Record in the event.
• Deniz Ertan swept the women’s distance freestyle events, winning the 400 in 4:07.38, the 800 in 8:30.31, and the 1500 in 16:07.48. For good measure, she added a win in the 400 IM in 4:38.47.
• Emre Sakci, best known as a breaststroker, won the 50 (21.73) and 100 freestyles (47.56). Truly a sprinter who can breaststroke, he is the Turkish Record holder in both races.
  • He also won the 50 breaststroke (25.90) and 100 breaststroke (57.46), both well shy of his personal bests.
• Sudem Denizli from Galatasaray swept the women’s backstroke races, winning the 50 in 27.48, the 100 in 59.09, and 200 in 2:07.63. Those are all lifetime bests, with the 200 being by more than two seconds for the age group record breaker who has otherwise stalled out the last few years.
• 15-year-old Arel Gultekin won the men’s 200 fly in 1:55.51, beating out Tuncer Erturk  and a large group of 1:56s by half-a-second. That swim for Gultekin was just .15 seconds shy of his own Age Record from August (which is the record for 15, 16, 17, and 18 year olds).
• Meric Uygun very nearly broke a record by Turkey’s most successful swimmer Viktoria Gunes. Uygun, 18, swam 2:10.96 in the 200 IM, and Gunes’ age record is 2:10.72 from 2016.