Derya Büyükuncu (pronounced [ˈdeɾja ˈbyjycˈundʒu]; born 2 July 1976) 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. His coach is Zehra Büyükuncu.[3][4]
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| National team |  TUR | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 2 July 1976 Istanbul, Turkey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.93 m (6 ft 4 in) (2012) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 90 kg (198 lb) (2012) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Backstroke, butterfly | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Galatasaray Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| College team | University of Michigan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Zehra Büyükuncu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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He participated in six consecutive Summer Olympic Games: 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing, 2012 London. He is one of the first two (together with Lars Frölander) swimmers to participate in six Olympic Games.
Early years
editAt 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 İzmir, 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.[5]
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.[4][5]
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.[4][5][6]
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.[4][5][7]
Athletic career
editIn 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.[8]
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.[9][10]
As of 2012, Büyükuncu holds national records in 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke events set in 2009. He has been in the Turkey national team for more than 25 years.[11][12]
Büyükuncu qualified to participate at the 2012 Summer Olympics. 2012 Summer Olympics was his sixth consecutive Olympics.[3][4][13]
Büyükuncu was sentenced to permanent deprivation of rights and an arrest warrant was issued for his post on his Twitter account against President Erdogan, who had coronavirus in 2022.[14]
Media career
editDerya Büyükuncu participated at the Yok Böyle Dans (Turkish version of Dancing with the Stars) TV Show in 2010 and he got the fourth place. He also participated at the Survivor Turkey TV Show in 2011 and ended up winning the title of "Sole Champion Survivor".
Achievements
edit| 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, United States | 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 | 22nd | 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 | 24th | 100m backstroke | 55.43 | |
| 22nd | 200m backstroke | 1:59.86 | |||
| 2009 | World Aquatics Championships | Rome, Italy | 20th h | 50m backstroke | 26.07 |
| 17th h | 100m backstroke | 55.78 | |||
| 23rd h | 200m backstroke | 1:59.49 | |||
| 2010 | FINA World Short Course Championships | Dubai, United Arab Emirates | 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
edit- 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
edit- ^ "Yes, the only God you believe in, Golf Only Days, you POS. Go fck yourself with the 7 iron".
- ^ "Your masters are very proud of you for attempting a coup!".
- ^ a b "Türk Sporcular 2012 Londra Olimpiyatlarında-Yüzme-Derya Büyükuncu" (in Turkish). GSB. Archived from the original on 2012-12-21. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
- ^ a b c d e "An Even Half-Dozen: Derya Buyukuncu Set to Swim in Sixth Olympics for Turkey". Swimming World Magazine. 2012-06-21. Archived from the original on 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
- ^ a b c d "'Yok Böyle Dans' için Şampiyona'ya katılmadı". Hürriyet Spor (in Turkish). 2012-12-22. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
- ^ "Michigan All-Time Top Yards Performers" (PDF). Big Ten Championships Guide. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
- ^ "Swimming and Diving Records". University of Iowa. Archived from the original on 2005-05-07. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
- ^ Demirbilek, Celal. "Altın Yıl Yaşadık-1997'de 1134 madalya alındı. Ve 251 rekor kırıldı". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 2008-02-06. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
- ^ "Germany, Sweden and Italy could celebrate "medal jubilees"". European Championships. 2009-12-09. Retrieved 2012-07-19.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "European Championships July 4". Swimming World Magazin. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
- ^ "13. Avrupa kısa kulvar yüzme şampiyonası İstanbul'da başladı-Türkiye rekoru kırıldı". Milli Gazete (in Turkish). 2009-12-11. Archived from the original on 2013-04-18. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
- ^ "Derya Büyükuncu: "Hiçbir zaman derece sözü vermedim"". HT Hayat (in Turkish). Retrieved 2012-07-19.
- ^ "Derya Büyükuncu 6. kez olimpiyatlarda". CNN Türk (in Turkish). 2012-07-03. Retrieved 2012-07-15.
- ^ "Arrest Warrant Issued for 6-Time Turkish Olympic Swimmer Over Tweets".
