arena Swim of the Week: 18-Year-Old Ahmet Boylu Drops 1:46.53 200 Free To Reset Turkish Record

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Disclaimer: Swim of the Week is not meant to be a conclusive selection of the best overall swim of the week, but rather one Featured Swim to be explored in deeper detail. The Swim of the Week is an opportunity to take a closer look at the context of one of the many fast swims this week, perhaps a swim that slipped through the cracks as others grabbed the headlines, or a race we didn’t get to examine as closely in the flood of weekly meets.

Burgeoning freestyle talent Ahmet Boylu had a phenomenal performance last weekend at the 2026 Turkish Championships in Edirne, becoming the first Turkish swimmer under 1:47 in the men’s 200 free.

Boylu, who turned 18 last month, put up a time of 1:46.53 in the 200 free, breaking Batur Unlu‘s national record of 1:47.00 set in 2022. The swim marks Boylu’s first individual Turkish Record.

Boylu knocked more than seven-tenths off his previous best time of 1:47.24, set at the 2025 World Junior Championships, where he finished fourth.

Split Comparison

Among all-time junior performers, Boylu cracks the top 20, moving into 19th (by World Aquatics definition of a junior, 18 and under as of December 31 in the year of the swim).

All-Time Junior Performers, Boys’ 200 Freestyle (LCM)

1. David Popovici (ROU), 1:42.97 – 2022
2. Danila Izotov (RUS), 1:43.90 – 2009
3. Tatsuya Murasa (JPN), 1:44.54 – 2025
4. Hwang Sunwoo (KOR), 1:44.62 – 2021
5. Zhang Zhanshuo (CHN), 1:44.86 – 2025
6. Carlos D’Ambrosio (ITA), 1:45.15 – 2025
7. Ian Thorpe (AUS), 1:45.37 – 2000
8. Sander Kjaer Sørensen (NOR), 1:45.78 – 2025
9. Yannick Agnel (FRA), 1:45.83 – 2010
10. Alessandro Ragaini (ITA), 1:45.83 – 2024
11. Luka Mijatovic (USA), 1:45.92 – 2025
12. Michael Phelps (USA), 1:45.99 – 2003
13. Roman Akimov (RUS), 1:46.06 – 2023
14. Elijah Winnington (AUS), 1:46.13 – 2018
15. Shun Wang (CHN), 1:46.14 – 2011
16. Flynn Southam (AUS), 1:46.24 – 2023
17. Ivan Girev (RUS), 1:46.40 – 2017
18. Petar Mitsin (BUL), 1:46.50 – 2023
19. Ahmet Boylu (TUR), 1:46.53 – 2026
20. Luca Urlando (USA), 1:46.51 – 2019

Boylu also raced the 100 free at the Turkish Championships, winning the event in a time of 49.74, just shy of his lifetime best of 49.67 set last summer.

Last year, Boylu broke out by placing fourth in the 200 free at both the European Junior and World Junior Championships. He also led off the Turkish boys’ 4×200 free relay at World Juniors that finished eighth and set a new national record of 7:19.28.

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