Kuzey Tuncelli Chasing Double Defense at World Junior Championships
Coming off a pair of finals appearances at the World Championships in Singapore, Turkey’s Kuzey Tuncelli is scheduled to race at the World Junior Championships in Otopeni, Romania. The 17-year-old distance star will try to defend his titles in the 800-meter freestyle and 1500 freestyle when the meet runs from August 19-24. Tuncelli is the top seed in both events.
In Singapore, Tuncelli opened his meet with a sixth-place effort in the 800 freestyle, behind a swim of 7:49.09. In the 1500 freestyle, Tuncelli was also sixth, thanks to a time of 14:52.44. Tuncelli was faster in both of his prelims outings, going 7:45.13 for a national record in the 800 freestyle, and 14:45.28 in the 1500 freestyle.
At the 2023 World Junior Champs in Netanya, Israel, Tuncelli won the gold medal in the 800 freestyle in 7:48.75 and bested the field in the 1500 freestyle with a mark of 14:59.80. A year later, he captured the European title in the 1500 freestyle and took bronze in the 1500 free at the World Short Course Championships.
Tuncelli is one of the three athletes with entry times under the 15-minute mark in the 1500 freestyle. Seeded second is Japan’s Kazushi Imafuku (14:50.18) while Germany’s Johannes Liebmann (14:53.15). Tuncelli owns a best time of 14:41.22, which he posted for a fifth-place finish at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and is the world junior record.
