Samorin 2025: Turkish Olympian Tuncelli on gold trail at European Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships

Turkiye’s Kuzey Tuncelli, who won European gold and world bronze in the 1500m freestyle last year, is one of the marquee names at the European Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships which start here at Slovakia’s National Olympic Training Centre tomorrow ((July 1) and run to June 6.

The 17-year-old – who last year became the first Turkish swimmer to reach an Olympic swimming final – will be defending the 800m and 1500m freestyle titles he won at the 2024 edition of these Championships in Vilnius.

“I want to win gold medals at the Juniors,” he told European Aquatics. “This will help me prepare for the World Championships.”

Tuncelli, who has been training relentlessly at Antalya’s Gloria Sport Arena in preparation for his season, is building a formidable selection of European junior medals having also won 1500m freestyle gold and 800m bronze in 2023 and 4x200m bronze in 2024.

His stated long-term aim is to emulate his swimming hero, Michael Phelps: “I want to be like him in Türkiye.”

Tuncelli could be in for a particularly busy week as he is entered for the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle as well as five relays.

The 2025 edition of these Championships – for girls aged 14 to 17 and boys aged 15 to 18 – has attracted 666 entries from 45 individual countries.

Tuncelli will be among a number of returning champions at the state-of-the-art x-bionic sphere – Slovakia’s National Olympic Training Centre – in a competition  open to athletes born between 2007 and 2011.

Another athlete seeking to extend an impressive record in these Championships is Hungary’s 16-year-old Vivien Jackl, who won 1500m gold and 400m medley silver at last year’s senior European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade.

Her first medal at the EA Junior Swimming Championships came at the 2022 edition in Otopeni, Romania as she took bronze in the 400m individual medley aged just 13 years and 261 days.

The following year she won the 400m medley in Belgrade, and she retained her title at the 2024 Championships in Vilnius, where she also earned 4x200m freestyle gold, 800m freestyle silver and 1500m bronze.

Jackl is one of a number of swimmers who will be defending titles here.

Within the boys’ competition they include Tuncelli’s team-mates Nusrat Allahverdi and Doruk Yogurtcuoglu in the 50m and 200m breaststroke respectively,Lithuania’s Tajus Juska and Mantas Kauspedas in the 100m freestyle and 50m backstroke respectively, Ireland’s John Shortt in the 200m backstroke and Robert Badea of Romania in the 200m and 400m individual medley.

Other returning gold medallists in the girls’ competition include Lithuania’s Smilte Plytnykaite in the 50m breaststroke, Lena Ledwig of Germany in the 200m breaststroke and Sarah Dumont of Belgium in the 200m butterfly .

Italy,  which finished as clear leader in the medals table in last year’s European Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships, is clearly set on maintaining pre-eminence at the 2025 edition.

The Italian team of 38 will seek to repeat the showing in Vilnius last year, when a total of 25 medals – 13 gold, nine silver and three bronze – saw them finish comfortably ahead of four nations who each secured for golds, namely Hungary, Turkey, Romania and Lithuania.

Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics

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