Beytullah Eroğlu


Beytullah Eroğlu is a Turkish Paralympic swimmer. He competes in the disability category of S5 in freestyle, butterfly and backstroke, specializing in sprint events. He competed in the 2012 and 2016 Summer Paralympics, at four World Para Swimming Championships and two IPC Swimming European Championships. At the 2017 World Championships, he won his country's first ever gold medal in Paralympic swimming.

Personal history

Beytullah Eroğlu was born to Mustafa Eroğlu and his wife Hilal in Kahramanmaraş, southern Turkey on September 25, 1995. He is the family's oldest of four children. He was born without arms and a leg shorter than the other.
He had a secluded life in his childhood. He did not leave his home until the age of seven. The life of the introverted boy has changed when his father persisted in his schooling. He learned to use his foot for writing, and made friends with his classmates. As he became known in the local media, Osman Çullu, the chairman of the Kahramanmaraş Para Swimming Club and the national team coach, visited the family. He proposed Beytullah to learn swimming. However, the disabled child became very scared thinking how can he will be able to swim with not arms,. Later, he got persuaded, and began to exercise swimming with the help of a raft. It took six hard years to learn swimming. Performing sport made him a happy individual. "When asked where his arms are", he jokingly replies "they were too heavy, I left them at home".
The tall physically disabled swimmer at is currently a student of physical education at Istanbul University.

Swimming career

Eroğlu was inspired to try the competition swimming after watching the 2000 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Sydney, Australia in the television. He also saw swimming as an opportunity to become more sociable. He began swimming in his hometown in 2001.
His uncle Şeref Eroğlu, silver medalist sport wrestler at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, became a role model for him. He participated in competitive swimming first in 2007. He holds national records in seven events.
Eroğlu internationally debuted at the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. He qualified for the Turkey national team for the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, United Kingdom. he participated at the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships in Montreal, Canada. He won his first medal, a silver medal in the 50m Butterfly S5 event at the 2014 European Championships held in Eindhoven. Eroğlu won a bronze medal in the 50m Backstroke S5 at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, and another bronze medal in the 50m Butterfly S5 event at the 2016 European Championships in Funchal, Portugal. He represented his country at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil without reaching to any medal. Eroğlu took his country's first ever gold medal in Paralympic swimming at the 2017 World Championships held in Mexico City, Mexico in the 50m Butterfly S5 event. He won also a bronze medal in the 50m Backstroke S5 event of the same tournament.
Eroğlu's disability swimming classification is S5 due to his limb deficiency as a birth defect. He is coached by Mehmet Fatih Kurt in the sports club İstanbul Büyükşehir Belediyesi S.K., which gave him access to a swimming facility in Istanbul. His father Mustafa Eroğlu is his manager.

Achievements

CompetitionPlaceEventRankTime
2010 World Championships, Eindhoven50m Backstroke S5645.46
2010 World Championships[, Eindhoven50m Butterfly S5644.15
2010 World Championships[, Eindhoven50m Freestyle S51445.25
2012 Paralympic Games, [London50m Backstroke S5Heats43.11
2012 Paralympic Games, London50m Butterfly S5741.44
2012 Paralympic Games, London100m Freestyle S5Heats1:38.45
2013 World Championships, Montreal50m Backstroke S5443.85
2013 World Championships, Montreal50m Butterfly S5439.38
2013 World Championships, Montreal200m Individual Medley SM563:33.38
2014 European Championships, Eindhoven50m Backstroke S5441.67
2014 European Championships, Eindhoven50m Butterfly S538.188
2014 European Championships, Eindhoven200m Individual Medley SM543:30.39
2015 World Championships, Glasgow50m Backstroke S540.27
2015 World Championships, Glasgow50m Butterfly S5438.00
2016 European Championships, Funchal50m Backstroke S573:30.39
2016 European Championships, Funchal50m Butterfly S538.41
2016 Paralympic Games, Rio de Janeiro50m Backstroke S5641.31
2016 Paralympic Games, Rio de Janeiro50m Butterfly S5538.70
2017 World Championships, Mexico City50m Backstroke S542.05
2017 World Championships, Mexico City50m Butterfly S538.35
2017 World Championships, Mexico City100m Freestyle S541:27.51
2017 World Championships, Mexico City200m Freestyle S543:21.52
2019 World Para Swimming Championships London50 m Backstroke S56th39.84