Bengisu Avci
Open Water Swimmer
- Country:
- Türkiye
- Biography:
- Bengisu Avcı is Turkey’s national ultramarathon swimmer and the first and only Turkish swimmer to successfully complete the Oceans Seven challenge.
She was born in 1996 in İzmir, Türkiye. Her name means “life-giving water.” She started swimming at the age of six in a pool. Realizing that she was not meant to be “the best” in the pool, she began her transformation journey in 2010 by transitioning to open-water swimming and was selected for the Turkish National Team.
In 2016, she joined a team known as the “Crazy Turks” and competed in the 36-kilometer Capri–Napoli Ultramarathon. When she ended up swimming almost the entire race on her own in this team event, she realized where she truly belonged: ultramarathon swimming.
In 2017, she entered the ocean to swim the English Channel but was forced to abandon the attempt due to hypothermia. One year later, on August 3, 2018, she returned and successfully conquered the Channel.
In 2022, she crossed the Catalina Channel, followed by the Strait of Gibraltar in 2023. By also swimming around Manhattan Island, she became the first Turkish woman to achieve the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming.
From that moment on, she believed she could complete the Oceans Seven. In 2024, she crossed the Cook Strait, completing her fourth channel.
Although her 2025 attempts at the Molokai Channel and the North Channel were interrupted by venomous jellyfish and hypothermia, she refused to give up. She successfully completed both channels on her second attempts.
On August 4, 2025—exactly seven years and one day after her English Channel crossing—she completed the Tsugaru Strait, becoming the first and only Turkish swimmer and the 40th athlete in the world to finish the Oceans Seven.
While the Oceans Seven was completed, her challenges were far from over. Bengisu Avcı turned her focus to ice swimming.
She broke world records in the IWSA Ice World Championships in the 200-meter breaststroke and in the IISA Ice World Championships in the 200-meter individual medley. She became a world champion in the IWSA 200-meter breaststroke and the IISA 100-meter butterfly events.
At the IISA European Ice Swimming Championships, she won gold medals in the 1000-meter freestyle, 100-meter breaststroke, and the 4×50-meter relay. Most recently, at the IISA International Ice Swimming Championships held in Italy this month, she claimed championship titles in three different categories.
Her next goals are the Ice Triple Crown and the Ice Oceans Seven challenges.
No retreat. Always forward.
FIRSTS
The first and only Turkish swimmer to complete the Oceans Seven.
The first Turkish woman to achieve the Triple Crown of Open Water Swimming.
The first Turkish swimmer to cross the Cook Strait.
The first Turkish swimmer to cross the Molokai Channel.
The first Turkish woman to cross the Catalina Channel.
RECORDS & DISTINCTIONS
The fastest Turkish woman to swim the English Channel.
The fastest European woman to cross the Molokai Channel.
The fastest Turkish swimmer to cross the North Channel.