19.07.2019
Thousands of swimmers from 59 countries will come together in Instabul this weekend for the ultimate swimming competition across two continents. The Samsung Bosphorus Crosscontinental Swimming Race will be held in Kuruçeşme Cemil Topuzlu Park on Sunday 21 July.
A press conference in the lead up to the big race was held on Friday July 19 and was hosted by Samsung Electronics President Daehyun Kim; along with the IOC Vice-President and Turkish Olymplic Committee (TOC) President, Dr. Ugur Erdener and Vice President, Nihat Usta. Swimmer Ion Lazarenco Tiron, who was chosen by WOWSA as “2018 World Open Water Swimming Man of the Year” and was recently nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and Hilal Zeynep Saraç, the winner of last year's women's general classification, also attended the press conference.
On Sunday, boats will leave at 08.00 to go to Kanlica Pier with the swimmers, the race will start at 10:00. The race will end in Kuruçeşme where the award ceremony will be held at 11.00.
President of Samsung Electronics Turkey DaeHyun Kim said: While the Samsung Bosphorus Crosscontinental Swimming Race, has " cross continental" in the name, this is a race ‘over the continents". This year we bring swimmers from 59 countries together on the Bosphorus between the two continents, which means bringing together almost one third of the world’s nations on the Bosphorus. For us, the biggest meaning of this race is to bring people together with different ideas from different countries. We are proud to support the 15-year-old Samsung Bosphorus Crosscontinental Swimming Race, which will turn 31 this year. This organization is the promotion of Istanbul and Turkey and is one of the most important national and international events. Our foreign guests will be happily talking about their delightful experiences by the Bosphorus in Turkey when they return to their country.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) Vice President and TOC President Prof. Dr. Uğur Erdener said:
This year we will host a record 2,400 swimmers from 59 countries. It is a unique feeling for us to host athletes from so many countries and cultures. I would like to thank, Samsung Electronics Turkey and my dear friend DaeHyun Kim, for supporting us and helping others to have this unique experience. I would also like to thank all the government and non-government organizations accompanying us, particularly the Governorship of Istanbul and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. Marcos Diaz, one of the first swimmers to swim in five continents, and Ion laserenko Tiron, one of the eight swimmers who completed the Ocean Seven marathon, will be with us at the Bosphorus Crosscontinental Swimming Race. This is a special occassion as such a busy waterway like the Bosporus is closed just one time in the year. Hilal Zeynep Saraç, who came first in the women's category last year, and Doğukan Ulaç, who came first in the men's category last year, will participate in the Show Swim event this year. I wish all our swimmers success.
TOC Vice President Nihat Usta said: We are ready to start the 31th Samsung Bosphorus Crosscontinental Swimming Race. On January 4, when we opened the applications for this year, all foreign swimmer quotas were filled within in 28 minutes. We determined our local swimmers by organising qualification races in five different regions of our country. I believe that our 2,400 swimmers will have a unique experience in this year's race. I wish all our swimmers success.
Ion lazerenko Tiron said :
I would like to thank TOC and Samsung for bringing together 59 countries. I started the Oceans 7 marathon to promote peace six years ago. It is a great honour for me to participate in the Samsung Bosphorus Crosscontinental Swimming Race which has the same goals.
Hilal Zeynep Saraç said:
Last year I won first place in the overall women's class at the Samsung Bosphorus Crosscontinental Swimming Race. I am very ambitious this year and I am happy to be swimming in the Bosphorus.
Athlete who swam across 5 Continents Comes to Istanbul
This year, the Dominican swimmer Marcos Diaz, who is the first person to swim the four channels that connect the five continents and who also broke various world records in marathon swimming races throughout his career, will come to İstanbul.
Race will be broadcast live
31st Samsung Bosphorus Crosscontinental Swimming Race will start on Sunday, July 21 at 10.00. The race will be broadcast live on S Sport. S Sport meets viewers on Digiturk 85th channel, D'Smart 78th channel, TV + 77th channel and Tivibu 74th channel. Also S Sport Plus will be able broadcasting the race.
FIRST AND MOST
- Race Record (Men): Alican Alaçlı 39:07:11 (2006)
- Race Record (Women): Beren Kayrak 40:50:35 (2006)
- Swimmer who won first place in consecutive races : Hakan Eskioğlu (7 times in a row, 10 times in total)
- Oldest swimmer: Levent Aksüt, 89 years old (Aksut, who participated in the race 29 times, participated in the race with his young son and grandson. Grandfather, son, grandchild: 3 generations of swimmers)
- Youngest swimmer: Eda Güney, 13 years 10 months (2014)
- Participation Record: F. Nazan Göğen (30 races)
- Record for Participation (Foreign): Ignat Cazmalı - Moldova (14 times)
- Crosscontinental Swimmer Record (Swimmer completing the race): 2318 (2018)
SAMSUNG Bosphorus Crosscontinental Swimming Race in Numbers
- This year is the 31st edition of the race.
- Qualification races took place in five cities. Istanbul, Adana, Izmir, Ankara and Samsun.
- The route consists of 6.5 kilometers. Between Kanlica and Kurucesme.
- 2400 people will participate. 1200 swimmers from foreign countries 1,200 swimmers from Turkey.
- Applications were submitted from 59 countries.
- The quota of 1200 people abroad was filled in 28 minutes.
- Russia has the highest number of participants with 370 people by filling the quota in six minutes, while Ukraine took the 2nd place with 356 swimmers filling the quota in 11 minutes.
- There will be participants aged from 14 to 89 years old.