Bosphorus affair: Russian swimmer Nikolai Svechnikov disappeared in Turkey

Russian swimmer Nikolai Svechnikov disappeared while swimming across the Bosphorus during the Bosphorus Intercontinental Competition. The Russian Consulate General is preparing a request to Turkey in connection with the missing athlete. Read more about the incident in the Izvestia article.

What happened to swimmer Nikolai Svechnikov

Nikolai Svechnikov, a 29-year-old resident of Moscow, a candidate for master of sports in swimming, disappeared during a 6.5 km swim in the Bosphorus Strait in Turkey. This was reported to RIA Novosti by a friend and relative of the swimmer. The athlete has a wife and a small child in Moscow.

It is known that the swim started at 10.00 and ended at 14.00, but after the competition the athlete did not contact his family.

"Nikolai Svechnikov arrived in Istanbul to participate in the swim. Nikolai's wife wrote to me at 17:00 that Nikolai still had not sailed, no one had taken any action until 16:00, they started looking for him from that time," said Nikolai, a close friend of the swimmer.

A relative of the swimmer reported that the swim participants saw Nikolai for the last time in the middle of the Bosphorus, and the maritime service claims that the signal from the Russian was last recorded on the shore.

At the moment, the police, the maritime and coastal service are searching for Nikolai Svechnikov. According to eyewitnesses, there were no rescue boats in the middle of the route, and the current was many times stronger than last year. In addition, heavy rain and fog appeared before the start, and visibility decreased dramatically.

Possible causes of the loss

About three thousand people participated in the competition, including more than 450 Russians. Nikolay is the only one who did not finish, although three of his players reached the end. The swimmer also did not take things from the storage room, said Dmitry Egorov, a REN TV journalist.

"Nikolai started among the first, but 500-600 meters after the start, his colleague, who also participated in the swim, lost sight of him," he wrote.

According to rescuers, the man could have had a cramp in his leg, after which he was swept away by the current.

As the former head coach of the Russian national open water swimming team, Honored Master of Sports Alexei Akatiev, told Izvestia, Nikolai Svechnikov could have run into other athletes during the swim.

"The main danger that haunts athletes competing at such major events is the large number of participants starting at the same time. There could have been some kind of water accident — a collision. An athlete swimming nearby could have accidentally hit him, hit some kind of pain point," Akatiev said.

According to him, swimming in open water is always an increased risk. The honored master of sports also claims that Nikolai "could have something wrong with his health": the water in the Bosphorus is warm, but in some places there may be cold currents.

According to open sources, 29-year—old Nikolai Svechnikov is a KMS swimmer, and is also the founder of his own swimming school in Moscow.

Measures to save Nikolai Svechnikov: what is known

The family and friends of the missing swimmer are trying to "influence the Turkish authorities," Nikolai's friend Dmitry Mikhalev told Izvestia.

"We need to understand the realities of the Bosphorus. This is indeed a very large expanse of water. It is not possible to launch divers," he explained.

According to Izvestia, Nikolai Svechnikov himself does not speak the local language and may be unconscious.

The Russian Consulate General is preparing a request to Turkey regarding this incident. Diplomats have received information about the disappearance of Nikolai Svechnikov, TASS reports. However, the diplomatic mission in Istanbul said that at the moment there has been no official information from the Turkish side on this issue.