World Junior Record Holder Viktoria Gunes Suspended Two Years for Whereabouts Failures

By Riley Overend on SwimSwam

Two-time Turkish Olympian Viktoria Gunes has been suspended two years by World Aquatics for “whereabouts failures” from last February, suggesting she did not make herself available for random drug testing.

Gunes is ineligible until May 23rd, 2026, and her results are disqualified since February 19, 2023. The 26-year-old native of Ukraine hasn’t raced since 2022 Islamic Solidarity Games. Her punishment is slightly more severe than the 18-month ban that has seemingly become the norm for whereabouts failures.

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Gunes still owns the nine-year-old world junior record in the 200 breaststroke at 2:19.64, which was only .53 seconds off the senior world record at the time in 2015. She also broke the world junior record in the 200 IM (2:11.03) at the 2015 World Junior Championships while sweeping all three breaststroke distances in Singapore.

Gunes went on to represent Turkey at the Rio Olympics in 2016, placing 9th in 200 breast, 14th in 100 breast, and 18th in 400 IM. After capturing a team title during the inaugural International Swimming League (ISL) season in 2019, she rode that momentum to a second Olympic appearance at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo 2021 edition, where she placed 13th in the 4×200 free relay and 22nd in the 200 IM.

After the Tokyo Olympics, Gunes resurfaced in 2022 with the the pro group at Mission Viejo training under head coach Jeff Julian. She skipped the 2022 World Championships in favor of the Mediterranean Games, where she won the 200 breast in 2:26.48 — which would have placed 14th at Worlds that year.

Gunes began her international career representing Ukraine at the 2013 World Junior Championships, where she won gold in the 200 breast, silver in the 50 breast, and bronze in the 100 breast. She angered Russian swimmers in 2022 when she posted a photo standing on a Russian flag about a month after the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to her Instagram, Gunes appears to be working now as a model based out of Los Angeles.

With Gunes ineligible, Turkey is sending four swimmers to the Paris Olympics later this month: Berke Saka (men’s 100 back, 200 IM), fellow world junior record holder Kuzey Tuncelli (men’s 800 free, 1500 free, 10k open water), Emir Batur Albayrak (men’s 1500 free, 10k open water), and Berkay Omer Ogretir (men’s 100 breast).

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