Derya Büyükuncu

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Derya Büyükuncu
Personal information
Full name Derya Büyükuncu
National team  TUR
Born (1976-07-02) July 2, 1976 (age 48)
Istanbul, Turkey
Height Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). (2012)
Weight 90 kg (200 lb) (2012)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Strokes Backstroke, butterfly
Club Galatasaray Swimming
College team University of Michigan
Coach Zehra Büyükuncu

Derya Büyükuncu (pronounced [ˈdeɾja ˈbyjycˈundʒu]; born July 2, 1976 in Istanbul, Turkey) is a six-time Olympic backstroke and butterfly swimmer from Turkey. The Lua error in Module:Convert at line 1851: attempt to index local 'en_value' (a nil value). tall athlete at 90 kg (200 lb) is a member of Galatasaray Swimming. He is coached by his wife Zehra Büyükuncu.[1][2]

He participated in six consecutive Summer Olympic Games: 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing, 2012 London. He is the first swimmer and one of the two (together with Lars Frölander) swimmers to participate in six Olympic Games.

Early years

At the age of nine, Büyükuncu became a national swimmer, and won a bronze medal in the 12-year-age category at the 1985 Balkan Swimming Championships held in Bulgaria. At the 1987 Balkan Championships held in Izmir, he won five gold medals. He repeated his five-fold gold medal performance at the 1989 Balkan Championships in Greece. In 1990, he took three gold medals at the Balkan Junior Championships held in Romania.[3]

Büyükuncu earned two gold medals at the 1991 European Junior Swimming Championships in Antwerp, Belgium. That year, he was named "Sportsman of the Year" by Milliyet. In 1992, he won the gold medal at the European Junior Swimming Championships held in Leeds, United Kingdom setting a new European juniors record. In so doing, he became the first ever Turkish swimmer to hold a European juniors record.[2][3]

Büyükuncu set a Games record in the 200m backstroke event at the 1993 Mediterranean Games in France and won the gold medal. The same year, he won two gold medals at the U.S. Open in Ann Arbor, Michigan and broke the record in the 100 yard backstroke event, beating world champion and record holder Jeff Rouse. Setting a record in the 100 yard backstroke, that is as of 2012 still unbroken, and a record in the 100 yard freestyle, Büyükuncu won two gold medals at the 1994 U.S. High School Swimming Championships. In 1993, he was named the "Male High School Swimmer of the Year" by the National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA) in the USA. He became the first ever Turkish swimmer to appear on the cover of Swimming World Magazine' in August 1994.[2][3][4]

Between 1994 and 1998, Büyükuncu set University of Michigan records in the 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke and 100 m butterfly events. In that time span, he set Big Ten Conference records in 100m and 200m backstroke, and was named the "Most Successful Swimmer" of Big Ten Conference in 1996 and 1998.[2][3][5]

Athletic career

In 1996, Derya Büyükuncu earned five gold medals at the 1996 Balkan Championships in Romania. He took the bronze medal at the 1997 Mediterranean Games in Bari, Italy. Winning a gold medal at the 1998 World Swimming Cup in Canada, he became the first ever Turkish swimmer to win an international competition.[6]

In the 100m backstroke event, he earned a silver medal at the European Short Course Swimming Championships 1999 in Lisbon, Portugal and a bronze medal at the 2000 European Aquatics Championships held in Helsinki, Finland.[7][8]

As of 2012, Büyükuncu holds national records in 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke events set in 2009. He has been a Turkish national team member for more than 25 years.[9][10]

Büyükuncu qualified to participate at the 2012 Summer Olympics. It will be his sixth consecutive Olympics.[1][2][11]

Media career

Derya Büyükuncu participated in 2010 at the Yok Böyle Dans, the Turkish version of Dancing with the Stars.[12] In 2011, he took part in Survivor: Ünlüler vs. Gönüllüler, the Turkish version of Survivor and ended up winning. Rumours are that, despite of his promise to donate Deaf association after winning, he ran away from the country with money and changed all the contact info. After a short period of time he refused these rumours in an interview with Hurriyet, saying he never got the full amount of money he was promised to get. "There was no question of fleeing away, I've been living and training in the States for 20 years now. I'm reading stuff like I've bought a new house and another newspaper writes I'm dead. I'm as confused and shocked as the rest of you", he said. [13][14]

Achievements

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
1991 Mediterranean Games Athens, Greece 2nd 100m backstroke
1992 European Junior Championships Leeds, United Kingdom 1st 100m backstroke 58.53
Summer Olympics Barcelona, Spain 5th qual h 100m backstroke 57.38
8th qual h 200m backstroke 2:06.01
1993 Mediterranean Games Nice, France 1st 200m backstroke
1996 Summer Olympics Atlanta, Georgia, USA 27th 100 butterfly 54.89
19th 100m backstroke 56.71
21st 200m backstroke 2:04.28
1997 Mediterranean Games Bari, Italy 3rd 100m backstroke
1998 World Aquatics Championships Perth, Australia 32nd 100m freestyle 51.58
27th qual h 100m butterfly 55.73
27th qual h 100m backstroke 57.31
1999 European Championships SC Lisbon, Portugal 2nd 100m backstroke 53.17
2000 European Aquatics Championships Helsinki, Finland 3rd 100m backstroke
FINA World Championships SC Athens, Greece 3rd 100 m backstroke 52.88
Summer Olympics Sydney, Australia 15th qual h 100m backstroke 56.21
2004 European Short Course Championships Vienna, Austria 8th 100m backstroke
4th 200m backstroke
Summer Olympics Athens, Greece 26th pl 100m backstroke 56.34
22nd 200m backstroke 2:02.69
European Aquatics Championships Madrid, Spain 13th SF 50m backstroke 26.62
8th 100m backstroke 56.14
7th 200m backstroke 2:02.12
2005 World Aquatics Championships Montreal, Canada 29th 100m backstroke 56.81
14th sf 200m backstroke 2:01.58
2007 European Short Course Championships Debrecen, Hungary 10th 200m backstroke
World Aquatics Championships Melbourne, Australia 28th 50m backstroke 26.71
27th 100m backstroke 56.50
18th 200m backstroke 2:01.57
2008 FINA World Short Course Championships Manchester, United Kingdom 18th 50m backstroke
18th 100m backstroke
10th 200m backstroke
Summer Olympics Beijing, China 30th 100m backstroke 55.43
22nd 200m backstroke 1:59.86
2009 World Aquatics Championships Rome, Italy 40th h 50m backstroke 26.07
37th h 100m backstroke 55.78
23rd h 200m backstroke 1:59.49
2010 FINA World Short Course Championships Dubai, U.A.E. 13th 200m backstroke
European Short Course Championships Eindhoven, Netherlands 11th 100m backstroke
5th 200m backstroke
European Aquatics Championships Budapest, Hungary 28th 50m backstroke
22nd 100m backstroke
15th 200m backstroke

Recognitions

  • 1991 Milliyet "Sportsman of the Year"
  • 1993 National Interscholastic Swimming Coaches Association (NISCA) "Male High School Swimmer of the Year"
  • 1998 "Most Successful Swimmer" of the Big Ten Conference

References

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External links

Olympic Games
Preceded by Flagbearer for  Turkey
Atlanta 1996		 Succeeded by
Kerem Ersü
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