Kocaeli 2026: Turkish stars to watch

Turkiye is hosting the World Para Swimming European Championships for the first time this September in Kocaeli, with plenty of local stars ready to entertain the home crowd and improve on the nation’s best-ever finish – 11th place at the last edition in Madeira 2024.

Two years ago, Turkish swimmers delivered two gold, four silver and six bronze medals. This time, the team will be without Sumeyye Boyaci, a six-time European Championships medallist and national star with hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. Boyaci is injured, but the hosts will have a new standout making her debut in front of home fans at a World Para Swimming competition. 

Defne Kurt grabbed five gold medals at the Singapore 2025 World Para Swimming Championships. How many can she add to her collection this time?

All Kocaeli 2026 races will be streamed live on YouTube - click here to watch. 

Here are three Turkish stars to watch out for at the European Championships.

Defne Kurt

Class: S10

No other international Para swimmer has had such an instant impact in the new Paralympic cycle after Paris 2024 as the 25-year-old from Istanbul. Kurt collected five gold medals from five races in her major championships debut at last year’s Worlds in Singapore. 

Kocaeli will mark her European Championships debut, and she will be racing in all five events in which she is the reigning world champion. 

Individual events at Kocaeli 2026

Five: women’s 50m freestyle S10, 100m freestyle S10, 100m backstroke S10, 100m butterfly S10 and 200m individual medley SM10.

European Championships appearances

Kocaeli 2026 will be her first European Championships.

Medal record

Five World Championships medals: five golds at the Singapore 2025 World Championships.

Sevilay Ozturk

Class: S5

A two-time Paralympic medallist, Ozturk has made the S5 class a consistent source of medals for Turkyie alongside Sumeyye Boyaci. Despite only 22, she is one of the most experienced athletes on the team, having made her Paralympic debut at Rio 2016 just months after her first international event. 

She is the reigning European champion in the women’s 50m butterfly S5 and will be aiming for more podiums in Kocaeli, competing in five individual events with the support of the Turkish fans.

Individual events at Kocaeli 2026

Five: women’s 50m freestyle S5, 100m freestyle S5, 50m backstroke S5, 50m butterfly S5 and 200m individual medley SM5.

European Championships appearances 

Three: Dublin 2018, Madeira 2020 and Madeira 2024.

Medal record

Two Paralympic medals: two bronzes (Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024).

Six World Championships medals: four silver (one at Singapore 2025, one at Manchester 2023 and two at Madeira 2022) and two bronze (Singapore 2025 and London 2019).

Seven European Championships medals: one gold (Madeira 2024), three silver (two at Madeira 2020 and one at Madeira 2024) and three bronzes (one at Madeira 2024 and two at Madeira 2020).

Umut Unlu

Class: S3

Turkiye’s first-ever Paralympic champion in Para swimming, Unlu has a special relationship with the European Championships: he won his first major-event medal at Madeira 2024, just five months before his Paralympic debut.

Since his Paris 2024 golds, Unlu has joined his childhood club Galatasaray, a Turkish football powerhouse with Para sports teams. In Kocaeli, he will have fans of all clubs behind him in search of a first European gold in six individual events.

Individual events at Kocaeli 2026 

Six: men’s 50m freestyle S3, 100m freestyle S3, 200m freestyle S3, 50m backstroke S3, 50m breaststroke SB2 and 150 m individual medley SM3. 

European Championships appearances 

One: Madeira 2024

Medal record

Two Paralympic medals: two golds (Paris 2024).

One World Championships medal: one bronze (Singapore 2025).

Two European Championships medals: two bronzes (Madeira 2024).

Turkiye at the European Championships

Reykjavik 2009: no medals.

Berlin 2011: 18th place (one gold, one silver and one bronze)

Eindhoven 2014: 23rd place (one silver)

Funchal 2016: 27th place (one bronze)

Dublin 2018: 15th place (one gold, one silver and two bronzes)

Madeira 2020: 21st place (three silver and three bronzes)

Madeira 2024: 11th place (two golds, four silver and six bronzes)