İlkay Dikmen (born February 2, 1981, in Izmir, Turkey) is a Turkish swimmer competing in the

breaststroke Breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and that it can be s ...

events. The tall sportswoman at is a member of Fenerbahçe Swimming in

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. She was born to Atilla and İlknur Dikmen in Izmir. She has a younger brother Eray. In 1992, she became the Turkish champion in her age group in the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke, the 100 m backstroke, the 100 m freestyle and the 200 m individual medley events. She swam in the swimming team of Fenerbahçe during the last two years of high school. After completing the high school in Turkey, she went to

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

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for university education. Between 2000 and 2003, Dikmen swam for the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

' sports team

Illinois Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

. She contributed to her school's success and set also a school record in the 200-yard breaststroke event. Dikmen took part at the 100 m breaststroke and 200 m breaststroke events of the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

and

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. In July 2004, she carried the Olympic torch in Istanbul. At the

European Short Course Swimming Championships 2005 The European Short Course Championships 2005 were held in Trieste, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterrane ...

held in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

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, she set a national record in 200 m breaststroke with 2:27.98.

Achievements

Honors

* 2003 ''Illinois Swimming Association Swimmer of the Year''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dikmen, Ilkay 1981 births Sportspeople from İzmir Living people Turkish female breaststroke swimmers Turkish female swimmers Fenerbahçe swimmers Illinois Fighting Illini women's swimmers Turkish expatriate swimmers in the United States Olympic swimmers for Turkey Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Turkey Swimmers at the 2001 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in swimming 21st-century Turkish sportswomen