Kirsty Coventry in Instanbul
RETIRED Zimbabwean swimming ico Kirsty Coventry has been invited to be one of the two high-profile special guests of honour during the 30th Samsung Bosphorus Cross Continental Swimming Race in Instabul, Turkey, tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s 30th Samsung Bosphorus Cross Continental Swimming Race, organised by the Turkish Olympic Committee (TOC), is set to feature a record-breaking number of participants in Istanbul. The Bosphorus Race, which is the world’s only swimming race between two continents, has been organised by the TOC every year since 1989. This year’s race is set to be bigger than the highly successful event last year, in which 2 147 swimmers from 49 countries took part.
The event, which makes a big contribution to promoting Turkey and Istanbul through sport, was selected as the World’s Best Open Water Swimming Race in 2017 by the World Open Water Swimming Association (WOWSA).
And the 30th Samsung Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swimming Race will welcome two of the most decorated Olympians of all time as special guests.
Zimbabwean swimmer and IOC Athletes’ Commission Chair Coventry, who has participated at five Olympic Games, collecting seven medals along the way, will join thousands of sports fans to watch the race.
One of the all-time athletics greats, IOC Executive Board Member Sergey Bubka from Ukraine, will also be an honoured guest. Bubka won gold at the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games, broke world records 35 times and is a 10-time World champion. He is considered to be one of the greatest pole vault athletes of all time. The excitement will kick-off today. Today, the excitement of the Samsung Bosphorus Cross Continental Swimming Race will get underway with various events, including the entertaining “Show Swim”, before the big race the following day.
Fatma Nazan Gögen, who is the only swimmer to have participated in all 29 races to date, and Levent Aksüt who has completed it 28 times, will take part in the “Show Swim”. Aksüt will be joined by his son and grandchild, meaning three-generations of the same family will take part this year. This year’s race received a record-breaking 4 430 applications. The quota for international applicants was filled in 27 minutes, with Russia’s quota for 450 people completed in 13 minutes.