Meeting Their Friend on Her Own Turf
Nehir Isman excitedly hosts teammates in Türkiye
Mike Brohard
Parents send their kids off to school hoping they’ll make friends. Naturally, the parents want to meet these friends. Mavi Nehir Isman’s parents – Tugba and Kivanc – are no different. They wanted to meet the people who have made such a positive impact on their daughter.
Easy enough in theory. In this case, it wasn’t as simple as her having her crew swing by after classes or practice. It was going to require a bit of planning and a passport to span the globe for Mia Axelman (California), Maddi Geyer (North Carolina) and Tess Whineray (New Zealand) to just appear on their doorstep in Istanbul, Türkiye.
“Since I committed to an American college, my parents have been, ‘make sure to always invite your friends and everyone that wants to come by to Türkiye.’ Because people don't always have an opportunity or even an idea or maybe the knowledge to go to Türkiye,” Mavi said. “You can be a great means of transportation for them to find a way or have an opportunity to see what Türkiye has to offer for tourists and everything.
“And they always were like, are you going to bring anyone this year? Are you going to bring anyone this break and blah, blah, blah. And then when I told them that they were actually planning to get tickets and looking at them, they were like, ‘oh, my God, that's awesome. You'll do this.’”
And they did. The foursome came to campus in the same recruiting class for Christopher Woodard’s Colorado State women’s swim team and were suitemates as freshmen. It took no time at all for the quad to become fast friends, exploring college life and beyond tethered together.
“The first day was awkward,” they chimed in virtual unison, then continued like a well-season chorus. “The second day was awkward. Then the third, day, natural.”
“I remember I had never spoken to Mavi, even texted,” Axelman closed. “I literally had not idea who she was. Then a week later we’re best friends.”
They have all been to Axelman’s home in California, and they’ve been to Geyer’s hometown, Charlotte. All which remained was visits which require passports.
A great plan, to be sure, but it took Whineray to really put it in motion. Her club team back in Auckland was going to Italy for a camp. Her mom suggest that since she was in the “neighborhood,” she might as well stay back and go to Türkiye, a plan Mavi fully endorsed. Once that was set, Axelman said she was going, too.
“My mom told me I couldn’t go, and then I bought my flight,” was how Geyer completed the plan. “I called her and said, ‘I’m going to Türkiye, everyone’s going.’ She said she didn’t know if it was a good idea, and then I hung up and bought my flight.”
It's one thing to get to know a teammate through conversations held on road trips and late nights hanging out in the dorm room, or now, the apartment the four share. It’s another to see someone in their element, around family, in their hometown.
We were across the world, but it's just the four of us and it's just Mavi's house. And yeah, we're in Türkiye, but it's the four of us and it feels normal.Maddi Geyer
The trip to Geyer’s house was a trip with Woodard driving the van, an experience they all described as feeling like “a race.” The trip to Axelman’s lasted a week and it felt like visiting family.
“I loved your house,” Geyer said. “It was like a home, too.”
A comment to which Axelman raised her eyebrows and smiled, adding, “It was a home.”
Hers.
“We got to meet Mia’s siblings, and we were staying with them. It was just so much fun,” Mavi said. “We went to the river. We did what Mia did growing up.”
Now it as Mavi’s turn to be the gracious host and a tour guide for a two-week stay. While their time together has created memories in multiple ways, this one far exceeded the others.
It was the crème-de-le-crème. The bomba, so to speak.
Mavi was prepared. She presented the traveling party with a slide show, each screen explaining where they were going and what they were going to see each of the 15 days. It was organized and precise, packed with history and notable sites, time with family and ample opportunity to relax.
They all feel she has a future if she wants to become a travel agent. The funny thing was she called herself a bad native of the country, not having gone to all of the historical markers prior.
What they found didn’t compare to what they’d heard, as is often the case.
“It was really cool. Mavi's explained so much to us, but then to see it in real life, you're like, wow, you've told us about this and now we're here and we're experiencing it with you,” Whineray said. “We weren't really like tourists. We were living like Mavi. We were being tourists a bit, but it was cool to see it from Mavi's perspective rather than just being a full-on tourist.”
Because it was the four of them, what might have felt surreal in some ways just felt normal. A basic day together.
It just happened to be on the other side of the world in a place they’ve never been, an international city none of them had on their bucket list.
“We were across the world, but it's just the four of us and it's just Mavi's house,” Geyer said. “And yeah, we're in Türkiye, but it's the four of us and it feels normal.”
They took in views they’d never seen, had history explained to them which wasn’t part of their schooling. Geyer was fascinated by the Roman ruins which still exist in the city of Istanbul, while Whineray was stunned by the Basilica Cistern, the largest of the hundreds of aqueducts which still exist below the city. Axelman mentioned the architecture, with Mavi highlighting the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque.
She told her friends about the history of her country and took them to places where they could experience the culture firsthand. As one would expect, the culinary delights were applauded by all, each meal bringing about a wave of flavor, a variety of tastes they had never previously encountered. Breakfast meant simit, a Turkish bagel which hits peak culinary delight when coupled with kaymak and honey.
Then there were the desserts. Well, one in particular.
“Bomba,” Whineray said with emphasis. “It means a bomb. It’s the thinnest pastry ever, filled with Nutella warmed up. Oh my god.”
“And they were special to this island we visited, and you could just go get them warm and fresh,” Axelman added. “They were so yummy.”
The island, Bozcaada, which Mavi calls “my island” is where her aunt, Simge, can be found, where she helps book rooms for guests. When the trip was first planned, Simge was one of the initial calls so the group could spend nearly a week there.
It was the highlight of the trip for them all. The natural beauty, the clear waters where Mavi taught them to dip a peach and take a bite, the sweet and salty tastes becoming a surprisingly delectable treat.
It was a place they could explore together and relax but also highlighted the family atmosphere in which Mavi was raised. They often had family dinners together, but on the island, they hit different. It was where they stopped being the friend group and were accepted as part of the clan.
Even when Whineray and Axelman tried to share granddad’s hammock and broke it, with Simge shooting photos each and every frame to its demise. A family which celebrates important moments together, Mavi sharing with her friends via text the news her aunt had received an award at work, each one of them commenting how excited they were for her.
Mavi took a screenshot of the conversation and sent it to her dad. He showed it to Simge, and it nearly brought her to tears.
Not a day goes by, they say, when one of them doesn’t recall something from the trip and it makes them laugh. Now the group returns to the team armed with even more inside jokes than before. A team bolstered by 12 freshmen as the Rams open the campaign this week with the Front Range Invitational at Denver (swimming) and Air Force (diving). It’s a squad primed on surging forward after falling short of expectations at the Mountain West Championships in 2024.
It’s part of their plan, but so are more trips. Eventually, they will get to Whineray’s home in New Zealand. It’s a destination they have all targeted as tops of the list. But then there’s Copenhagen, Denmark. And Bali. And Ibiza.
A meet or a trip, to the four, it doesn’t matter.
“Because whatever we do together,” Mavi says, “It’s going to be fun.”
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