Physique of Russian swimmer discovered months after vanishing throughout cross-continental race

The physique of a Russian athlete who went lacking through the annual Bosphorus cross-continental swimming race in Istanbul, has been discovered, Russia’s consulate mentioned on Thursday.

“The Consulate General of Russia in Istanbul regrets to report that, according to the results of the DNA examination, the body found on January 20 … belongs to the Russian swimmer Nikolai Svechnikov,” it mentioned in a press release despatched to the RIA Novosti information company.

The 29-year-old skilled swimming coach had joined the 4-mil) swim between Asia and Europe on August 24 alongside greater than 2,800 contributors from 81 nations. 

But the Turkish Olympic Committee, which organized the occasion, later mentioned he “went missing during the race.” His disappearance was solely seen a number of hours after the occasion, RIA Novosti reported.

The Istanbul governor’s workplace mentioned safety footage and the timing chip hooked up to his foot confirmed he began the race, however he “had not made it to the finish line.”

Despite days of searches by the coastguard and the maritime police, his physique was by no means discovered.

But on Tuesday morning, police discovered the physique of a person “near the Bebek embankment” not removed from the place the race ended, the consulate mentioned, with DNA testing confirming it was that of the lacking swimmer.

The Istanbul public prosecutor’s workplace, which had opened a probe into the swimmer’s disappearance, had on Wednesday confirmed a physique had been discovered with “no head, no feet and no arms.”

It was additionally discovered to be “wearing a swimsuit,” suggesting it was seemingly that of Svechnikov, it added.

Alperen Çakmak, a lawyer representing Svechnikov’s household, told RIA Novosti that he expects an ongoing police investigation to proceed rapidly.

“We’ll do everything to identify all those involved and guilty of negligence in organizing this event,” Çakmak mentioned. “There’s a separate legal process regarding compensation, which we’ll continue to demand from the organizers.”

During the annual race, the Bosphorus Strait,  one of many world’s busiest transport lanes, is quickly closed to site visitors, with swimmers coming into the water at Kanlica on the Asian facet and racing to Kurucesme on the European facet.

According to the official race web site, they’ve a time restrict of two hours to finish the course, with the Turkish coast guard choosing up anybody who doesn’t end inside that point.

Some of the swimmers within the occasion criticized the race for allegedly having inadequate monitoring and never sufficient rescue boats alongside the course, the Moscow Times reported.

Istanbul prosecutors had opened an investigation into the incident.