source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com

A former Turkish national swimmer who was unable to attempt his previous plan to swim the 360-kilometer distance between the resort town of Kuşadası and the Greek capital of Athens due to several bureaucratic and financial problems is now preparing to swim from Turkey to Turkish Cyprus.

In his new record attempt, former national swimmer Alper Sunacoğlu will try to swim the 113-kilometer distance between Anamur in the Mediterranean province of Mersin and Kyrenia in northern Cyprus in less than 30 hours.

In an attempt to break the 1974 record of swimmer Ersin Aydın, who swam the same distance in 34 hours, Sunacoğlu will depart from Anamur at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

Sunacoğlu told the Anatolia news agency that he had initially planned to swim to Athens, but had to change his plans due to bureaucratic problems and decided to head for Turkish Cyprus instead.

Sunacoğlu said his goal was to swim the distance in 26-27 hours without a cage, unlike the current record holder, Aydın.

Aydın, who is among the swimmers who have crossed the English Channel, had previously set the record after he swam from Turkey to Cyprus inside a cage for protection against sharks in 34 hours.