[April 18, 2014] |
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Turkish Swimming Dusts off and Gets Ready for Success with Turkcell's Support
ISTANBUL --(Business Wire)--
In April 2013, Turkcell (News - Alert) (NYSE:TKC) (BIST:TCELL) Turkey's leading
telecommunications and technology company, and Turkish Swimming
Federation partnered for "Olympic Performance Project" and set
the bar high for Turkish swimming. One year on, under the leadership of Bob
Bowman, the trainer of Olympic legend Michael Phelps and now the
Chief Advisor of Turkish National Swimming Federation, Turkish swimming
is picking up steam. Turkcell, Turkish Swimming Federation and Bob
Bowman shared the initial results as the project nears its first
anniversary.
Koray Ozturkler, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Turkcell; Bob Bowman (News - Alert), Chief Advisor of Turkish National Swimming Federation; Ahmet Bozdogan, President of Turkish Swimming Federation (Photo: Business Wire)
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One of the goals of the "Olympic Performance Project" is to
take the number of active swimmers in Turkey to 100 thousand by 2020.
Having started with 18 thousand swimmers only a year ago, Turkcell and
Turkish Swimming Federation have managed to increase the number by 14
thousand in a year. The goal for 2014 will be to add another 3
thousand swimmers and reach 35 thousand licensed athletes by the end
of the year.
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Another goal of the project is to train elite athletes. 5 Turkish
swimmers are currently training in Baltimore, Maryland, USA under Bob
Bowman's direct leadership, along with US swimmers.
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Bob Bowman and his team initiated a coach training program in additon
to training the athletes. Under this program, Turkish coaches are
having two-month-long internships in Baltimore. In 2014, Turkey will
host the International Coach Clinic with the support of FINA -
International Swimming Federations.
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FernandoCanales, of Bob Bowman's team, has assumed his duties as
resident trainer of Turkish National Swimming Teams in Istanbul.
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In order to instill the passion for swimming to broad segments of
society and identify potential athletes, Turkcell organized "Swimming
Days" in 17 Turkish cities and reached 10 thousand young swimmers. The
goal for 2014 is to reach 20 thousand swimmers in 40 cities in 2014.
Speaking at a press conference in Istanbul, where these results were
shared with Turkish press, Ahmet Bozdogan, the President of Turkish
Swimming Federation, praised the progress achieved so far. "Our
current level seemed like a dream in the past. We are already witnessing
significant improvement in Turkish Swimming under the leadership of Bob
Bowman. With Turkcell's significant contribution, we are taking steps to
institutionalize this wave of change" said Bozdogan in his remarks.
Turkcell's Chief Corporate Affairs Officer Koray Ozturkler
reaffirmed Turkcell's commitment to Turkish swimming. "We are developing
the talent pool by reaching out to potential athletes and investing in
long-term success by improving the education of our trainers. We are
confident that this project will lead to international success stories
for Turkish swimming in 2020 and beyond." said Ozturkler.
Bob Bowman, the Chief Advisor of Turkish National Swimming Federation,
emphasized the long-term nature of the project. "Sustaining the momentum
is very important in swimming. We are working together to improve the
standing of Turkish swimming in the international arena but it is going
to take time and patience." said Bowman in response to questions from
journalists.
Turkcell and Turkish Ministry of Sports are investing a total of 28
million Turkish liras in the "Olympic Performance Project". In
addition to its current support, Turkcell will introduce a technological
component to the program, enabling scientific tracking of athletes'
performances.
ABOUT TURKCELL Turkcell is the leading communications and
technology company in Turkey, with 34.9 million subscribers as of March
31, 2013. Turkcell is a leading regional player, with market leadership
in five of the nine countries in which it operates with its
approximately 69.2 million subscribers as of March 31, 2013. It has
become one of the first among the global operators to have implemented
HSPA+. It has achieved up to 43.2 Mbps speed using the Dual Carrier
technology, and is continuously working to provide the latest technology
to its customers, e.g. 84 Mbps in the near future. Turkcell Superonline (News - Alert),
a wholly owned subsidiary of Turkcell, is the one and only telecom
operator to offer households fiber broadband connection at speeds of up
to 1,000 Mbps in Turkey. As of February 28, 2013, Turkcell population
coverage is at 99.19% in 2G and 84.26% in 3G. Turkcell reported a
TRY2.7 billion (US$1.5 billion) revenue with total assets of TRY18.9
billion (US$10.4 billion) as of March 31, 2013. It has been listed on
the NYSE and the ISE since July 2000, and is the only NYSE-listed
company in Turkey. Read more at www.turkcell.com.tr
You can now follow the most up-to-date Turkcell developments on twitter
by clicking on the link below. http://twitter.com/TurkcellNews
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20140418005156/en/
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