Derya Büyükuncu

Derya Büyükuncu

Personal information
Full name	Derya Büyükuncu
National team	TUR
Born	(1976-07-02) July 2, 1976 Istanbul, Turkey
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) (2012)
Weight	90 kg (200 lb) (2012)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Backstroke, butterfly
Club	Galatasaray Swimming
College team	University of Michigan
Coach	Zehra Büyükuncu
Medal record Men's swimming Competitor for Turkey World Swimming Championships 2000 Athens 100 m backstroke European Aquatics Championships 2000 Helsinki 100 m backstroke European Short Course Championships 1999 Lisbon 100 m backstroke FINA World Cup 2008 Italy 100 m backstroke 2006 Italy 100 m backstroke 2006 Italy 200 m backstroke 1998 Canada 100 m backstroke Mediterranean Games 1993 Nice 200 m backstroke 1991 Athens 100 m backstroke 1997 Bari 100 m backstroke European Junior Championships 1992 Leeds 100 m backstroke 1991 Antwerp 100 m backstroke 1991 Antwerp 200 m backstroke

Derya Büyükuncu (pronounced [ˈdeɾja ˈbyjycˈundʒu]; born July 2, 1976 in Istanbul, Turkey) is a six-time Olympic backstroke and butterfly swimmer from Turkey. The 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) 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

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

External links

• Personal website

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