EDIRNE, Turkey – Harvard men's swimming and diving rising junior Umitcan Gures has punched his ticket to represent Turkey at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Istanbul native reset the Turkish national record in the 100 butterfly at the Turkish Championships on Friday (April 23) with a time of 51.91.
 
Gures narrowly missed the qualifying FINA A Cut standard of 51.96, clocking 51.97, 51.98 and 52.1 at the Turkish Championships in December 2019. After swimming a 52.6 and 52.2 in prelims and finals on Thursday, Gures finally broke the threshold in Friday's time trials.
 
Gures also holds the Turkish national record in the 50m butterfly (23.70) and is a member of the fastest 4x100m relay team (3:36.85).
 
In his first two seasons at Harvard, Gures has collected five Ivy League titles in the 100 butterfly (2019, 2020), 200 freestyle relay (2019), 200 medley relay (2019) and 400 medley relay (2019). He's also set the program record for the 100 butterfly at 45.13 and is a two-time All-America Selection.
 
Up next, Gures will head to the European Championships in May before taking the stage in Tokyo later this summer.
 
Note: Turkish Championship times are courses measured in meters while Harvard/Ivy League races are measured in yards.