Derya Büyükuncu
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Medal record | |||
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Derya Büyükuncu |
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Men’s Swimming | |||
Competitor for Turkey | |||
World Championsips (SC) | |||
Bronze | 2000 Athens | 100m Backstroke | |
European LC Championships | |||
Bronze | Helsinki 2000 | 100 m backstroke |
Derya Büyükuncu (born July 2, 1976) is an olympic backstroke and butterfly swimmer from Turkey, who competed in four consecutive Summer Olympics for his native country, starting at 1992 and Beijing 2008 is going to be his fifth Olympic Games. He won the bronze medal in the 100 m Backstroke at the 2000 FINA Short Course World Championships, behind America's Neil Walker and Cuba's Rodolfo Falcon.
Scoring 52.88 seconds, Büyükuncu broke his own record of 53.17 seconds for Turkey which he had obtained a couple of months before, at the European SC Championships 1999 in Lisbon, Portugal. He has been the first ever Turkish swimmer to have swum in less than 53 seconds. Scoring 53.34 seconds in the semifinals, Büyükuncu became eligible to swim in the finals. His performance was remarkable in the finals, and he swam for 52.88 seconds becoming the 'first` Turkish swimmer ever to be accorded the place of honour at a world championship.
Büyükuncu had previously won a gold medal at the World Swimming Cup event, a silver medal at the European Short Course Swimming Championships and he also participated in other European Championships. Büyükuncu is still studying at Los Angeles University in the United States, after a long time spell in the 1990s with the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.