More than 2,400 swimmers from 59 countries competed in the Turkish Olympic Committee (TOC)  31^stSamsung Bosphorus Cross-Continental Swimming Race in Istanbul on 21 July. The 6.5km Race began in Kanlıca, on the Asian side of Istanbul, and ended in Kuruçeşme Cemil Topuzlu Park on the European side, which makes it the only official competitive swimming race to cross between two continents.

Exactly half of this year’s quota was made up of international swimmers, more than ever before. Thousands of fans attended the event, including IOC Vice-President and TOC President Uğur Erdener and Samsung Electronics Turkiye President Daehyun Kim, Minister of Youth and Sports Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoğlu, İstanbul Deputy Governor İsmail Gültekin, İstanbul Municipality Secretary General Yavuz Erkut, China Sports Minister Gou Zhongwen, Ambassador of Moldova Igor Bolboceanu, Council General of South Korea Jessy Yeunju Jang and Samsung Electronics Turkiye CFO Seokhoon Ahn.