Merve Tuncel (born 1 January 2005) is a Turkish

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

specialized in the

freestyle swimming Freestyle is a category of Swimming (sport), swimming competition, defined by the rules of World Aquatics, in which competitors are subject to only a few limited restrictions on their swimming stroke. Freestyle races are the most common of all ...

. She qualified for the 800m and 1500m freestyle events of the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. She is a member of Enka SK.

Early years

Merve Tuncel was born to Sulhi and Adalet Tuncel in

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

, Turkey on 1 January 2005. She is a student at Nermin Mehmet Çekiç

Anatolian High School Anatolian High School, or Anadolu High School (), refers to public high schools in Turkey that admit their students according to high nationwide standardized test (LGS) scores, though this is not required for entering all Anatolian High Schools. ...

in Yenimahalle, Ankara. She liked to play with water in her very early youth years. She started swimming at Age 4 At age ten, she started to swim at the Turkey Olympic Preparation Center in Eryaman, Ankara under the Head Coach Gjon Shyti. From 2019 she swims for Enka SK, but her coach is still Gjon Shyti and she continues training in Ankara.

Swimming career

Tuncel won the silver medal in the 200m butterfly, and the bronze medal in the 800m freestyle at the

2019 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival The 2019 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival was held in Baku, Azerbaijan, between 21 and 27 July 2019. Sports The following competitions took place: Venues Schedule The competition schedule for the 2019 European Youth Olympic Summer Fes ...

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

, Azerbaijan. She broke the juniors world record at

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey on 22 December 2020 in the short course 1500m freestyle swimming event with 15:45.29. She won gold medals in the events 400 m, 800 m, 1500 m, and the bronze medal in the freestyle relay event of the 2021 European Junior Swimming Championships in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Italy. She set new championships record and European Juniors record with her times 8:21.91 in 800 m freestyle, and 15:55.23 in 1500 m freestyle. Tuncel was the flag bearer for Turkey together with Berke Saka at the 2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.

Summary (2019-July 2023)

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuncel, Merve 2005 births Living people Swimmers from Ankara Turkish female freestyle swimmers Turkish female long-distance swimmers Enkaspor swimmers Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2022 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games medalists in swimming Islamic Solidarity Games medalists in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming 21st-century Turkish sportswomen Islamic Solidarity Games gold medalists for Turkey Medalists at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games