Teenage Olympian Emir Batur Albayrak withdraws from men’s 10km swim: ‘Tragic end for him’

Turkish teenager Emir Batur Albayrak has been helped out of the Seine by lifeguards as he withdrew from the Olympic men’s 10km swim in Paris.

The 17-year-old pulled the pin just under an hour into the marathon swim on Friday evening (AEST) and called for assistance.

An official in a canoe came out to Albayrak and helped remove him from the river.

“Tragic end (to the race) for him,” Cate Campbell said on Nine.

The 17-year-old’s distress in the water was little surprise, given the brutal conditions swimmers have been dealt with over the past two days.

It comes barely a full day after tragedy struck during a CrossFit event in the USA where competitor Lazar Đukić sadly drowned and died in Fort Worth’s Marine Creek Lake, near Dallas, Texas.

The current in the Seine wasn’t quite as strong on Friday for the men’s race as it was on Thursday for the women’s, but the athletes still had a hard time swimming upstream.

“This current is so unforgiving on that return leg,” Australian swimming great Giaan Rooney said on Nine during the race.

Albayrak also swum for Turkiye inside Paris La Défense Arena during the indoor swimming program.

Earlier in the race, Rooney said she developed a greater appreciation for open water swimming when she tackled Western Australia’s grueling Rottnest Channel Swim.

“I was told that I was going to fall in love with open water swimming,” she said.

“I can tell you that after three hours of being in and out of the water, I was told I had swallowed half the ocean. My nipples chafing, I had sickness, I was like, ‘I don’t understand’.

“It gave me a whole new appreciation for this ocean swimming. My arms nearly fell off.”

In even tougher conditions the previous day, Australian star Moesha Johnson led for most of the race before falling into second on the home stretch and claiming silver.

“They are almost having to swim on an angle to stay straight,” Campbell said during the men’s race.

“They will all head straight to the side of the river, as close as they possibly can to the wall to try and get out of that current.

“Then you also have to contend with the vines. All the girls had scratches on their arms from the vines hanging over the side (yesterday).

“Moesha ran into a tyre at one stage. It was absolute chaos.”

Aussie Nick Sloman finished 11th in the race, while fellow countryman Kyle Lee was about 16 seconds behind him in 13th.