This morning at Swimnews we received an email from a member at a swimclub in Izmit, Turkey. Izmit was at the epicenter of the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey on August 17, 1999.

The letter reads as follows:

Just I want to share our sorrow with the swimming community that our swimming club POYRAZ has lost 27 age group swimmers during the terrible earthquake which hit our town IZMIT on Aug 17, 1999.

We will have remembrance ceremony on October 21, 1999 at 2:00 PM local time in Izmit-Derince/Turkey Swimming Pool.
Best Regards,
Ercument Yildiz

On behalf of all the staff at Swimnews, I would like to personally express our sincere condolensces to the members of this swimclub and to all the people of Turkey who suffered loss during the earthquake. I along with 3 of our staff had the pleasure of working in Istanbul, Turkey during the European Swimming Championships. We greatly enjoyed the warmth and hospitality of the people we encountered and working with during the event.

The Red Cross is accepting donations for the Turkish earthquake victims and we encourage you to visit the Turkish Relief Website and make a donation.