Aysu Turkoglu becomes first Turkiye woman to swim across North Channel

Aysu Turkoglu, a 22-year-old swimmer, became the first Turkish woman to swim across the North Channel on Wednesday, Anadolu Agency reports.

Turkoglu, who was also the youngest Turkish athlete to achieve the crossing, swam from Northern Ireland to Scotland, completing an almost 40-kilometer (24-mile) journey in the North Channel in 11 hours, 48 minutes and 19 seconds.

In 2022, Turkoglu swam the English Channel in 16 hours and 28 minutes, to be the youngest Turkish swimmer ever to make the crossing.

On Wednesday, she started swimming at 0445GMT in Northern Ireland’s Bangor as dolphins in the North Channel accompanied her.

Proud Turkoglu displayed a Turkish flag when she ended her crossing. The water temperature in the North Channel is around 12-14C (54-57F) – much colder than the English Channel.

Following her North Channel crossing, Turkoglu wants to break the Guinness record by completing the “7 Oceans” channels within five years.

The O7 marathon swimming challenge includes the Catalina Channel in the US, Molokai Channel in Hawaii, Cook Strait in New Zealand, Strait of Gibraltar between Spain and Morocco, Tsugaru Strait in Japan, North Channel between Ireland and Scotland and the English Channel between the UK and France.

READ: Conquering North Channel: Young Turkish swimmer takes on one of the world’s toughest crossings