A Russian swimmer went missing during an annual open-water event in Turkey on Sunday, as reported by relatives and friends to the state news agency RIA Novosti.
Nikolai Svechnikov, 29, was said to have failed to reach the finish line of the 6.5-kilometer (4-mile) Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swim, which featured over 2,800 competitors from 81 nations, including approximately 450 Russians.
Other participants indicated they last saw Svechnikov in the middle of the race. Organizers speculated that he might have experienced fatigue, cramps, or been swept away by strong currents, whereas his family firmly believed he was in good condition and had prepared extensively for the event.
Search operations commenced two hours after the race concluded, but reports suggest Istanbul police did not initiate a missing person investigation until 24 hours later. Witnesses have also claimed that they did not observe any rescue boats during the night, despite organizers assuring that search efforts were ongoing.
“The coast guard assured me verbally: Rest assured, all services are looking for Nikolai. I wept and pleaded for them to show me any video evidence or a search area. They merely took my contact information and repeated: ‘Don’t worry, we are searching for him,’” a relative named Alyona shared with RIA Novosti.
The Russian Consulate General in Istanbul confirmed that it was in communication with Turkish authorities regarding Svechnikov’s disappearance. The event’s organizer, the Turkish Olympic Committee, stated that they were collaborating with police and coast guard services to locate the missing swimmer.
As indicated on the official competition website, swimmers had two hours to complete the course, and those who did not finish within that time were supposed to be retrieved by the Turkish coast guard.
Some participants criticized what they viewed as inadequate monitoring and a shortage of rescue boats along the route. The competition was followed by a naval parade through the Bosphorus, part of an event supervised by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
