Participation in the European Aquatics Junior Swimming Championships that concluded in Munich’s 1972 Olympic pool on Saturday has provided the newly formed Turkish team with an ideal boost as they work towards the EA Championships in Paris.
Along with Portugal and Bulgaria, Turkiye are working within the European Aquatics Artistic Swimming Support Program launched to boost team entries at Paris 2026.
And as part of their development the Turkish team took part in the team technical event at the EA Junior Championships.
They finished last of the 15 competing teams, but were only five points off the 14th team, Czechia, with their total of 193.8067.
The Turkish team was: Ayca Boru, Ece Doganyildiz, Ida Dograyan, Defne Dundar, Defne Gumus, Bade Haceryan, Nefise Naz Pinar and Esmanur Yirmibes.
Tugce Erdem, from the Turkiye Federation coaching staff, told European Aquatics:
“Participating in this competition was a valuable experience for us.
“It was important to see the difference between their training performances and their competition performance as a team, receive feedback from the judges, and continue our preparations for Paris accordingly.
“We plan to make adjustments to the choreography in order to better highlight our athletes’ strengths. Based on the feedback we received, we have developed our training and preparation plan accordingly.
“Even though this was their first time working together as a team the athletes handled everything really well.
“At the beginning they were very excited and nervous, but as they got used to the competition environment they became much more confident in their actions.
“During the competition they gave it their all. And afterwards, when we discussed the mistakes and areas for improvement, they stayed focused and took the feedback seriously.
“We are now on our way home, and they have already become a stronger, more united and more connected team.”
EA is providing each country with 10,000 euros to prepare teams for the artistic swimming that will take place at the Olympic Aquatic Centre Greater Paris Metropolis from July 31 to August 5.
Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics
