Turkish autistic swimmer Baha Mandalı, who started swimming lessons for rehabilitation, is achieving success with the support of his physical education teacher mother.
Benan Mandalı, a physical education teacher in Istanbul, enrolled her autistic twin son Baha Mandalı in swimming lessons for rehabilitation at the age of 12.
Noticing her son's potential to become a performance athlete, Benan Mandalı left teaching to become Baha Mandalı's swimming coach.
After a while, Benan Mandalı transitioned to the disabled swimming coach position within the Youth and Sports Ministry, playing a leading role in Baha Mandalı's achievements.
Winning his first gold medal in the Turkish School Sports Disabled Swimming Championship just a year after starting swimming, Baha Mandalı also swam between Burgaz Ada and Heybeliada in his first open water race that year.
Motivated by his successes, Baha Mandalı achieved the title of the youngest autistic swimmer to cross the Bosphorus in the Bosphorus Intercontinental Swimming Race in 2019.
Winning two gold, three silver, and two bronze medals at the Balkan Junior Championships held in Bulgaria on May 12, Baha Mandalı was invited to the national team this year following his consistently increasing successes.
His mother, Benan Mandalı, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that families use sports as a tool to motivate and integrate their disabled children into life.
Stating that they chose sports to create social awareness for people with disabilities, Mandalı said, "Sport is a tool to show how successful these children can be when supported."
Emphasizing the importance of directing every disabled person in Türkiye to a sports branch, Mandalı said, "The person who noticed Baha's real talent is Duran Aslan, an instructor in the Ministry of Youth and Sports' 'Unhindered Swimming' project and also a national team coach. When we continued on this path with him, our son became the youngest autistic person to cross the Bosporus and a countless gold medalist athlete."
Mandalı stated that she quit teaching due to the difficulties she would face in raising her autistic twins.
Baha Mandalı said that he loves swimming very much and works with his mother and coaches to achieve more success.