15-Yr-Old Kuzey Tuncelli Rips 14:56.67 1500 Free At Turkish Trials

By Retta Race on SwimSwam

2023 TURKISH TEAM TRIALS

• Thursday, April 27th – Sunday, April 30th
• Edirne, Turkey,
• LCM (50m)
• Live Results

The 2023 Turkish Team Trials began with a bang from Edirne today as a 15-year-old nailed a Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualification time in the men’s 1500m freestyle.

Racing in the final event on day one, Kuzey Tuncelli fired off a big-time personal best of 14:56.67 to take the 1500m free event. He clocked the sole sub-15:00 time of the field, beating his competitors by over 23 seconds in the process.

Emir Batur Albayrak secured silver tonight in 15:20.96 while Muhammed Yusuf Ozden rounded out the podium in 15:33.78.

Splits for Tuncelli’s swim

As for Tuncelli, his effort crushed his prior career-quickest of 15:08.67, a mark he produced just last month. His result also overtook the previous Turkish national standard of 15:02.22 Mert Kilavuz put on the books en route to becoming the 2022 European Junior champion in the event.

Tuncelli’s time dipped under the 15:04.64 World Aquatics ‘A’ standard needed to qualify for this summer’s World Championships. But it also cleared the 15:05.49 Olympic Qualification Standard needed for the 2024 Olympic Games.

Entering this competition, Tuncelli’s previous PB ranked him as the #2 European Junior 18&U in this event, sitting behind Frenchman Pacome Bricout‘s season-leading 15:08.01. He now wears the Europen Junior ranking crown with his remarkable result.

At just 15 years of age, Tuncelli now ranks 11th worldwide in this men’s 1500m free event on the season.

SwimSwam: 15-Yr-Old Kuzey Tuncelli Rips 14:56.67 1500 Free At Turkish Trials