A Life Intertwined with Sports: Kürşad Tuzmen
From swimming to scuba diving, from parachuting to riding a motorcycle… The sports life of Kürşad Tuzmen, who was the Minister of State Responsible for Foreign Trade and Customs between 2002-2009 in 3 governments, 58, 59 and 60, is based on his childhood. When it came to swimming, it immediately caught my attention. Kürşad Tüzmen deals with lots of sports and besides he has a private pilot license (PPL) and he is a member of Turkey's National Olympic Committee (NOC).
Let’s listen to Kursad Tuzmen about swimming in the 1970s:
"Swimming was improving in the 1970s in Turkey. Swimmers could train depending on the seasonal periods. For example, swimmers from Adana used to keep up with in the canals built by the State Hydraulic Works. The style of canal swimmers was obvious. Adana swimmers were always breaststroke-style swimmers, training in long seasons. They always came first in breaststroke style races. Later, the swimmers of Izmir also joined. There were not many swimmers in Ankara. Swimmers in Istanbul used to train with their own means. Both the technology used and types of training were insufficient.
In 1974, swimming 100 meters in less than 1 minute was a huge event. When I swam in Adana in 59 seconds and came first, they gave me the stopwatch (manual, not digital at that time) as a trophy. Then there were three other swimmers achieving the same. So that was very good for Turkey, but this time score had a big gap with the the world rankings.
It was very difficult to train swimmers in Ankara. Because only 3 months training period was available. With the 3 months training, we participated in the national championships. There were indoor pools in Istanbul and Izmir. İzmir had an indoor pool as it hosted the Mediterranean Games. Thus, swimmers in these provinces had the chance to train more. Against their rivals who trained for 12 months, swimmers from Ankara had to compete in the same lane as they did for 3 months. Despite not having equal conditions, swimmers from Ankara also achieved significant success in the championships and won the auditions. This was no easy task. Today when we observe at all parts of Turkey have serious facilities. “
Kürşad Tüzmen graduated from Middle East Technical University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of Business Administration in 1981. While studying at METU, he participated in competitions in swimming and water polo branches and achieved good rankings. "In 1977, I was selected to the national team by passing the qualifications for the Balkans Championship. However, we could not go because it coincided with my METU finals." After completing his undergraduate education, Tuzmen's interest in sports was also evident when he went to the military.
“While I was doing my military service, I was both an athlete in the Armed Forces Force Team and was responsible for the training of my teammates. We won first places in swimming and water polo games. At that time, there were 3 leagues in both water polo and swimming competitions. For water polo teams, 1st League, 2nd League, 3rd League; The swimming teams also had A League, B League and C League. We used to swim in every branch to collect points. When I entered a race, I would participate in the race at 9 different branches. (In order to keep the performance high, swimmers enter 2-3 races to achieve their target.) 100m, 200m backstroke; 100m, 200m, 400m, 1500m freestyle; All relay races were among the races I participated in. As the competition comes to the end, the performance of a 9 race swimmer is seriously troubled. Swimmers who came to participate in the race at 1-2 branches would break the record. Those of us who entered all races to get points were able to get 1st places, although there was no record broken. The essence of this was that what sports is, its details, scientific approaches, scientific training methods were quite lacking. I see this situation getting better nowadays. For example, there were water polo referees who could not swim in the 1980s, today all referees know how to swim. "
Tuzmen is not only interested in swimming and water polo among the sports he is interested in: he is also closely interested in diving, planes and motorcycles. “I have been diving freely for half a century and scuba diving as an instructor diver for about 40 years. I had the opportunity to dive in all the oceans and seas of the world. I'm good with all planes. Actually, I only have a PPL license (private pilot license), so I can fly with propelled ones. Optimists say they use planes and pessimists use parachutes. Therefore, I also do paragliding. I became a skydiver (jumping without opening the parachute immediately). Since I love adrenaline, this free sky dive was the best. Motor sports is another area I've been passionate about for many years. I love all 2-wheelers. I live to drive, I drive to live. "
Samsung Bosphorus Intercontinental Swimming Race and Çanakkale Strait Race:
Kürşad Tüzmen took part in the organization of the Samsung Bosphorus Intercontinental Swimming Race, which I have participated in since 2018 and is the women's general classification champion, and has participated in the competition many times as a swimmer. He participated more than 20 times as a contestant in the 32nd Samsung Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swimming Race in 2020. For those who do not know, the Samsung Bosphorus Intercontinental Swimming Race is selected as the "best open water organization" in 2016 with the world-renowned World Open Water Association (WOWSA), and every year athletes from more than 50 countries have auditioned to cross the Bosphorus.
“I do not have very reliable statistics, but since we were the founders and first participants of the Bosphorus races with Türkay Peker, the deputy president of the Turkish Sports Foundation and TOC, I have attended at least 20 times as a swimmer, except for master training abroad, assignments abroad, surgeries and illnesses. I've been all over the podium, most of them first in my age groups. I got the first place in my group in one of races which I caught a good stream, and 7th in the general classification despite my advanced age.
I remember attending at least 5 times to give prizes when I couldn't swim. My bureaucracy career helped in the organization and sponsorship of these races. While I was the General Manager of Free Zones, it was our duty to provide swimmers with swimsuits, bonnets, and towels and bathrobes from the Undersecretary of Foreign Trade. In addition to sponsorships, when I participated as minister, I did problem-solving studies on the race route and bureaucratic problems.
Nowadays, our races are institutionalized, otherwise it would be very difficult to make requests in this period when it is difficult to find sponsors. Now everything is ready, it is a very nice feeling to be able to take part in the organization that we started with 60 people, growing by 100 times and becoming an event where 6,000 people, half of whom are foreigners, apply. "
Apart from the Samsung Bosphorus Intercontinental Swimming Race, the Çanakkale Strait Swimming Race is an international competition organized in our country. Tüzmen participated in this race as an athlete and took part in important roles. In 2018, the Olympic and world champion German swimmer Ute Brückner participated in the Dardanelles Swimming Race at the invitation of his friend Kürşad Tuzmen. Tuzmen also ranked first in the Çanakkale Troy Marathon.
They Swam From Mersin to TRNC for Peace
For the 46th anniversary of Cyprus Peace Operation of the TRNC the group consisting of six swimmers, swam from Mersin to Cyprus which was 93km of distance under the motto "Strokes of Peace for Cyprus. The tough transition took about 28 hours. The swimmers carried the flag they bought from Mersin and carried it to TRNC. The team was protected against shark danger by wearing magnetic bracelets. The swimmer team included former minister Kürşad Tuzmen, world champion Ahmet Nakkaş, national swimmer Tarkan Tuzmen, the first athlete to make a double in the English Channel, Faruk İlgüy, the first TRNC athlete to cross the English Channel, and Kubilay Çimen, a lecturer.
"The Anamur-Kyrenia crossing is a 93 km pass that I made with my 5-person teammates except for me, and it takes 28 hours; I, Ahmet Nakkaş, Faruk İlgüy, my brother Tarkan Tuzmen, we are all national and ambitious swimmers. In addition, Osman Akkuş from the TRNC, academician Kubilay Çimen.
It is worth mentioning the Anamur outlet. Anamur Bay is a place with a reverse current. On our way out, we waited for it to disappear, since I took the place known as archaeologist Elizabeth's house on the shore as a landmark for nearly 4 hours. But after about four friends swam, it was still in the sight. While 5th friend was swimming, we slowly started to lose the house on the shore. Because there was a reverse current. First mainland Turkey disappears, then your eyes want to see the Cypriot coast. You start at 6 in the morning and although you look slowly in the hope of seeing it in the afternoon, it is not possible to see Cyprus until the night.
Everyone has done their part. The night was very difficult. Plankton caused serious injuries as we were swimming on a moonless night. We still have its marks. Plankton were huge. We had to swim with 2-3 meters of plankton, we were severely damaged. I don't know if they saw us, but we didn't see any sharks. I saw a manta while I was swimming at 02: 00-03: 00. We were surprised that there was a manta in the Mediterranean, and when we did our research later, we saw that it was also in the Saros Gulf. Mantaches rise above the water to shed their parasites. I can say we had a fun night. Everything went well thanks to the coast guard boats.
Cyprus started to appear slowly towards morning. We were close to Cyprus around 5 in the morning. We went to Landing Beach in Kyrenia. It was very nice to go to the beach, which the first landing craft shored in 1974, to deliver the Turkish flag there and to be in an award ceremony for those who welcomed us. Then we went to the place where ceremonies were held in Kyrenia. The current President of Cyprus, at that time the prime minister Ersin Tatar welcomed us there. They wanted to host us, but we chose to return because of the virus danger. “
"We overcome every problem with athlete determination and discipline."
“There were times when I could not enter the water after minor operations due to malignant melonoma. However, the treatment, sports and nutrition close to nature enabled me to overcome my problems quickly. My shoulders were also operated due to water polo injuries. Instead of lead, I cast titanium. Despite all this, I overcome every problem with athletic determination and discipline.
Isn't it the same for you? While swimming, I take the problem, get on the lane and jump. When swimming the problem begins to soften with water, it becomes more comfortable to be considered, then the problem is solved when you quit, you've made your decision.
And let's not forget, we all live our decisions… "