Berk Kamanlı, who lives in Ankara and was born without legs and fingers, and Hamit Demir, who has no legs or hands, trained in Akyaka, a town near Ula in Muğla, where they attracted much interest from both local and foreign tourists.
Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Kamanlı said he started swimming to keep his muscles strong and to be able to use his prosthetic legs better. Kamanlı, who has been swimming professionally for 13 years, is studying at the first college of physical education and sports for handicapped people at Gazi University in Ankara. “This is very good luck for me. Starting to study as a handicapped person put serious responsibilities on me. Now, I have responsibilities to other handicapped people,” he said.
Kamanlı has swum across the Çanakkale Strait five times before. “In the swimming events in the Çanakkale Strait, there were swimmers from Turkey and abroad. I did very well there. I earned several medals. I will now take part in the swim across the Bosporus for the first time. I will overcome another obstacle by swimming across the Bosporus,” he said. Noting that he feels very comfortable while swimming, Kamanlı said he has difficulty walking. “Obstacles outside water affect me more,” he said. The swimmer was abandoned by his parents at a hospital at birth and has lived with a foster family since he was 2 years old. The young man said his foster family are his biggest supporters. Kamanlı also added that he and his swimming partners want to take part at the Paralympics and other international sports events. “We cannot get enough support. We compete in these events by our own means. We are waiting for any kind of support,” he said.
Demir, 18, who studies at an Ankara high school, started swimming two years ago. He said he initially thought he could not swim. “I decided to swim after seeing other handicapped people swimming. Then I thought if I could walk and run, why couldn’t I swim? I now hope to be competitive in national and international events,” he said.
