Aysu Türkoğlu

Aysu Türkoğlu (b. 2001, Bodrum) is a Turkish open water and ultra-marathon swimmer. Pursuing her goal of completing the Ocean's Seven, a series made up of the world's toughest open water swims, she had completed six of its seven crossings as of July 2026. At just 21, on 30 July 2022, she swam the English Channel in 16 hours 28 minutes, becoming the youngest Turkish athlete to swim across it. A year later, on 9 August 2023, she crossed the North Channel in 13°C water in 11 hours 48 minutes 19 seconds, making history as the first Turkish woman to swim it. In 2024 she added two more Ocean's Seven crossings to her career: New Zealand's Cook Strait on 21 March 2024 in 7 hours 21 minutes 4 seconds, and the Catalina Channel in the United States on 5 September 2024 in 11 hours 36 minutes 41 seconds. On 28 April 2025 she swam Hawaii's Kaiwi Channel, regarded as one of the toughest open water swims in the world, in 21 hours 22 minutes 45 seconds. With this 65-kilometre crossing she became the Turkish athlete with the longest swim in the history of the Republic of Türkiye. In July 2026 she successfully crossed Japan's Tsugaru Channel, reaching another major milestone in her career. She completed the roughly 45-kilometre course from Aomori to Hokkaido, known for its strong and shifting currents, in 13 hours 44 minutes. With this sixth Ocean's Seven channel behind her, she is just one crossing away from completing one of the most prestigious goals in open water swimming. Alongside her Ocean's Seven journey, Türkoğlu also holds the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming, an internationally recognised benchmark in the sport. Earned by completing the English Channel, the Catalina Channel and the Manhattan Island Marathon Swim under official rules, the Triple Crown secured her place in international open water swimming history as the youngest Turkish athlete to achieve it. Combining her education with a professional sports career, Türkoğlu graduated from Ege University's Faculty of Sport Sciences in 2025. That same year she received the university's “Athlete of the Year” award, chosen by student vote. Alongside her sports career, Aysu Türkoğlu is an active keynote and motivational speaker. In Türkiye and abroad, she speaks at companies, universities, educational institutions and private events on goal setting, mental resilience, crisis management, discipline and sustainable success. Beyond the hours of physical struggle in the ocean, her talks connect what she has learned in sport, such as making decisions under uncertainty, adapting to changing conditions, staying committed to long-term goals and mental resilience, with business and everyday life. In her meetings with young people across Türkiye, she shares her experience of dreaming, self-confidence, courage and a culture of never giving up. Aysu Türkoğlu continues to compete actively. Combining open water and pool training with strength work, dryland training and mental resilience practice, she sees sport not only as a field of physical performance but as a way of life built on discipline, determination and sustainable growth.