Swimming Against the Tide

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Milliyet Newspaper, 26 May 2017)


             Hands-free super will power.


In Kahramanmaraş, Beytullah Eroğlu, the oldest of Mustafa and Fatma
Eroğlu's 4 children, was born without both arms.  Beytullah did not leave
his house until he was 7 years old but with his father's support he began
elementary school.  Soon Beytullah learned to write with his feet but his
life really changed when he met Osman Çullu, the head of the
Kahramanmaraş Handicapped Swimming Club and coach of the Turkish
national swimming team.


        Beytullah's way.

With the aid of a special 'boat', Beytullah was able to float on the water
but, as he explained, "this took a full 6 years.  It was very tough but I
learned to swim."  Since then Beytullah has won many medals for Turkey.
He explained that "rather than sink into a shell and give up I decided to
make the best of my life. I want to thank President Erdoğan and Sports
Minister Akif Çağatay Kılıç for their support. I'm working out 7 hours
each day in preparation for the Tokyo Olympics."


                     Kahramanmaraş province