World Paralympic Swimming Championships
Sümeyye Boyacı, who competed in the final of the World Paralympic Swimming Championship, became the second in the world. Sümeyye Boyacı, Sevilay Öztürk and Beytullah Eroğlu competed in the 50m backstroke finals in the championship held in London, the capital of England. While Sümeyye Boyacı, a national swimmer, won the silver medal with a time of 44.74, Sevilay Öztürk, who competed in the same race, took the eighth place with a time of 50,54. Representing Türkiye, Beytullah Eroğlu finished the race in the sixth place in the Men's 50m Backstroke with a time of 39.84.
WHO IS SUMEYYE BOYACI?
Sümeyye Boyacı was born on February 5, 2003 in Eskişehir. In the S5 disabled class, she competes in the freestyle, backstroke and butterfly categories. Competing in Summer Paralympic Games in 2016, Boyacı won the gold medal in the S5 category in the 50m backstroke at the European Paralympic Swimming Championship in 2018. According to her own explanation, she started swimming in 2008, by "being impressed by the fact that fish she saw at an aquarium where she visited could swim without arms." She started working with Coach Mehmet Bayrak in 2013. In June 2016, she competed in the 30th International German Championship, the first international race of her career, held in Berlin. Boyacı, who won the gold medal in the 50m backstroke junior B S5 category, was eliminated in the series in the 100 m breaststroke S6, 50 m freestyle S5 and 50m butterfly S5 categories. She came in 8th in the 50m backstroke S5 category at the Summer Paralympic Games held in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. The following year, she won the bronze medal in the 50m backstroke S1-5 category at the European Paralympic Youth Games hosted by Liguria, and came in 4th in the 50m freestyle S1-5 category. In December of the same year, she competed in four different categories at the World Paralympic Swimming Championships held in Mexico City. She took the 4th place in the 50m backstroke S5 category, 6th place in the 50m butterfly S5 category, and 7th place in the 50m freestyle S5 and 200m freestyle S1-5 categories.
Beytullah Eroğlu (September 23, 1995 Kahramanmaraş), Turkish Paralympic Swimmer
Eroğlu, an athlete from Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Sports Club, came in 3rd in the world in the 50m backstroke category with a time of 40.27 in the Physically Disabled Swimming Championship in 2015, and 4th in the world with a time of 30.00 in the 50m butterfly category. Beytullah Eroğlu, who is a student at the Faculty of Sports Sciences and School of Physical Education and Sports/Istanbul University, is an athlete of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Sports Club. He is the nephew of Wrestler Şeref Eroğlu. Beytullah Eroğlu, who was born without arms and a leg 12 cm shorter than the other due to a hip dislocation, started swimming in 2001 and became a professional in 2004. In 2005, he became the champion of Türkiye even though he was only 10 years old. In 2006, he came in 11th in the world in South Africa. It was the first competition in which he swam without a safety ring at the 1st Black Sea Games held in Trabzon in 2007. His first international experience was the Disabled Swimming Competition in Slovakia in 2008, where he returned with two silver medals. Competing in five styles at the World Championship eliminations in Germany in 2010 and entitled to attend the world championship in all of them, the athlete won silver medals in the 50m butterfly and 50m backstroke categories and took the third place in the junior rankings. At the World Championship held in the Netherlands in the same year, he came in 6th in the world in both butterfly and backstroke styles. At the European Championship held in Berlin in 2011, he won a gold medal in the 50m butterfly category and a silver medal in the 200m medley swimming category. He competed in the breaststroke, butterfly, backstroke and 200m medley swimming categories at the London Paralympics in 2012 and became the 7th in the Paralympics. In 2013, he transferred to Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Sports Club. At the World Championship held in Montreal in 2013, he came in 4th in the 50m Backstroke S5 and 50m Butterfly S5 categories in the world and 6th in 200m Individual Medley SM5 in the world.
