Türkiye signed off from the European Para Swimming Championship with a night to remember in Kocaeli province. On the final Saturday at the Gebze Olympic Swimming Pool, Defne Kurt took gold in the women's 100-metre freestyle S10, touching in 59.37 seconds — and with it became the first Turkish athlete ever to win five gold medals at a single European Championship.
Kurt was quick to frame the win as a stepping stone rather than a peak. She noted that the race exposed small shortcomings she can now fix, saying that in a 100-metre final the details decide everything. Her next target is the Olympic Games, though not before a well-earned break.
The hosts kept collecting on the closing day. Turgut Aslan Yaraman won the men's 200-metre individual medley SM8 in 2:24.13, his second gold of the championships and the last gold awarded at the tournament. He admitted the five-day programme had been draining — five events, heats and finals back to back — but said the medley was the race he had aimed for all week and that he managed the pressure well.
Umut Ünlü added the home team's final medal of the competition, silver in the men's 200-metre freestyle S3 with a time of 3:22.30.
Nine Turkish swimmers swam on the last day, and the host nation finished with a total of 16 medals: nine gold and seven silver. It was not enough to challenge the traditional powers at the top of the table, though. The Russian Federation dominated the standings with 92 medals — 33 gold, 39 silver and 20 bronze — ahead of Italy on 29 golds and Ukraine on 25.
For travellers, the story puts a spotlight on Gebze and Kocaeli, an industrial corner of northwest Türkiye that rarely features on holiday itineraries but sits conveniently between Istanbul and the Marmara coast. The region proved it can host major international sporting events, which often means improved pools, transport links and visitor facilities that outlast the championships themselves. Sports fans planning trips around events — para-sport crowds are famously welcoming and passionate — now have another stop to watch for when the next edition is announced.
For the Turkish team, the championship closes with history made and momentum built. Kurt, still with room to improve by her own assessment, heads into the Olympic cycle as the face of a program that just delivered its best-ever European showing.