Tuncel Takes Turkish 800 Free Record, GA Tech’s Unlu 1:47.08 200 Free

2020 TURKISH LC NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION MEET

  • Friday, December 25th – Sunday, December 27th
  • Istanbul, Turkey
  • LCM (50m)
  • Results

In addition to the monster Turkish record set by 15-year-old Merve Tuncel in the women’s 1500m free, the teen also took down the national 800m free mark while competing at the Turkish LC National Team Selection Meet.

Hitting the wall in a time of 8:28.34, Tuncel impressed yet again, knocking down Beril Bocekler’s previous Turkish national record of 8:32.65 set in July of 2019. Not only did the Enka Spor Kuluebue athlete easily overtake that mark, but she also laid waste to her own previous PB of 8:43.24 in this event. That previous time was produced en route to 10th place at the 2019 World Junior Championships.

In terms of U.S. 15-16-year-olds, Tuncel’s time would rank as the 10th fastest ever in the age group. Worldwide this season, Tuncel checks-in as the 8th fastest performer in this event.

2020-2021 LCM Women 800 Free

KatieUSA
Ledecky
07/31
8:12.57
2Ariarne
Titmus
AUS8:13.8307/31
3Katie
Grimes
USA8:17.0507/29
4Simona
Quadarella
ITA8:17.3207/29
5Sarah
Koehler
GER8:17.3307/29
6Anastasia
KIRPICHNIKOVA
RUS8:18.7707/29
7Kiah
Melverton
AUS8:19.0506/17
8Wang
Jianjiahe
CHN8:19.1007/26
9Haley
Anderson
USA8:20.5106/19
10Isabel
Gose
GER8:21.7907/29
View Top 26»

An additional record went down in the men’s 200m breast event, with Berkay Ogretir reaping the top prize in the men’s 200m breast. Touching in a time of 2:09.86, the 22-year-old slid under his previous Turkish national standard of 2:10.64 he produced almost exactly 1 year ago. Splits for Ogretir this weekend include 1:02.29/1:07.57.

Also on the men’s side, 18-year-old Batur Unlu produced a new Turkish Age Record in the 100m free, touching in a PB of 49.87. Although his tie missed Doga Celi’s overall record of 49.13, the Georgia Tech swimmer’s outing was enough to overtake Emre Sakci’s 17-18-yr-old record of 50.00 that’s been on the books for 5 years.

Unlu also took down his own national record in the 200m free, coming close to the FINA ‘A’ cut in the process. Unlu touched in 1:47.08 (51.77/55.31) to get under the 1:48 threshold for his first time ever. His time here crushed the previous Turkish standard of 1:48.77 he logged at this same time last year.

1:47.02 represents the FINA ‘A’ qualifying standard for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, meaning Unlu fell just .06 shy of the mark with this impressive swim.

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Timekeeper
3 years ago

Unlu also went 1:47.08 in the 200 free, breaking his own national record and just missing the A cut

AC Parent
3 years ago

Tuncel swam 8:28.34, not 8:23/

About Retta Race

Former Masters swimmer and coach Loretta (Retta) thrives on a non-stop but productive schedule. Nowadays, that includes having earned her MBA while working full-time in IT while owning French 75 Boutique while also providing swimming insight for BBC.

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