Turkish long-distance swimmer Aysu Türkoğlu went down in history Wednesday as the first Turkish woman to cross the North Channel that runs between Northern Ireland and Scotland.
At just 22 years of age, the endurance swimmer is also the youngest Turkish to swim across the channel.
Türkoğlu kicked off her record-setting crossing from Northern Ireland and reached Scotland with a time of 11 hours, 48 minutes.
Starting to swim from Northern Ireland at 7:44 a.m. local time, the young athlete reached Scotland at 7:32 p.m.
She celebrated her victory by unfurling the Turkish flag when she reached the shore and dedicated her achievement to the nation on the centenary of the Turkish republic.
The 22-year-old battled dangerously low water temperatures, an average of 13 degrees Celsius (55 degrees Fahrenheit), as she crossed the North Channel. She suffered burns and edema on her body due to the frigid water.
Türkoğlu, who swam nonstop, intermittently met her nutritional needs with specially prepared liquid foods at a higher than body temperature and painkillers.
She was accompanied by a boat as a precaution and occasional pods of dolphins during the crossing.
Türkoğlu was born in southwestern Türkiye’s Bodrum on May 2, 2001. Currently, she is a third-year student at Ege University’s Sports Sciences Faculty.
She picked up swimming at the age of 7 and later her career as an open water, long-distance swimmer once she reached 14.
In the first international Aquamasters swimming race she participated in, she became the first in the women's 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) course.
On July 29, 2022, she became the youngest Turkish athlete to cross the 60-kilometer English Channel between England and France in 16 hours and 28 minutes.
