Derya Büyükuncu (; born 2 July 1976) is a six-time Olympic

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimm ...

and

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

swimmer from

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. The tall athlete at is a member of

Galatasaray Swimming Galatasaray Swimming Team is the men's and women's swimming (sport), swimming section of Galatasaray S.K., a major sports club in Istanbul, Turkey. Technical and managerial staff Current squad Galatasaray swimming team International success ...

. His coach is Zehra Büyükuncu. He participated in six consecutive Summer Olympic Games: 1992 Barcelona, 1996 Atlanta, 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens,

2008 Beijing The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, 2012 London. He is one of the first two (together with

Lars Frölander Lars Arne Frölander (born 26 May 1974) is a Swedish swimmer. He has competed in six consecutive Olympic Games (1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012). Biography Frölander was born in Boden. He grew up in Ornäs in Borlänge Municipality. ...

) swimmers to participate in six

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

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 Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

. 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 Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. In 1990, he took three gold medals at the Balkan Junior Championships held in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

. 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 The European Junior Swimming Championships (50 m) is an annual swimming competition for European swimmers organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation and held over five days.

held in

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

, United Kingdom setting a new European juniors record. In so doing, he became the first ever Turkish swimmer to hold a European juniors record. Büyükuncu set a Games record in the 200m backstroke event at the

1993 Mediterranean Games The XII Mediterranean Games, commonly known as the 1993 Mediterranean Games, were the 12th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Languedoc-Roussillon, France, from 16 June to 27 June 1993, where 2,598 athletes (1,994 men and 604 women) fro ...

in France and won the gold medal. The same year, he won two gold medals at the U.S. Open in Ann Arbor,

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

and broke the record in the 100 yard backstroke event, beating world champion and record holder

Jeff Rouse Jeffrey Norman Rouse (born February 6, 1970) is an American former competition swimmer, three-time Olympic champion, and former world record-holder in three events. Rouse represented the United States in two consecutive Olympic Games in 1992 ...

. 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. Between 1994 and 1998, Büyükuncu set

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

records in the 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke and 100 m butterfly events. In that time span, he set

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

records in 100m and 200m backstroke, and was named the "Most Successful Swimmer" of Big Ten Conference in 1996 and 1998.

Athletic career

In 1996, Derya Büyükuncu earned five gold medals at the 1996 Balkan Championships in

. He took the bronze medal at the

1997 Mediterranean Games The XIII Mediterranean Games, commonly known as the 1997 Mediterranean Games, were the 13th Mediterranean Games. The Games were held in Bari, Italy, from 13 to 25 June 1997, where 2,956 athletes (2,166 men and 790 women) from 21 countries partici ...

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. In the 100m backstroke event, he earned a silver medal at the

European Short Course Swimming Championships 1999 The third edition of the European Short Course Championships was held in Complexo Desportivo do Jamor in Lisboa, Portugal, from 9 to 11 December 1999. Medal table Medal summary Men's events Women's events ReferencesResults on GBRSports.com ...

in Lisbon,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

and a bronze medal at the 2000 European Aquatics Championships held in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. As of 2012, Büyükuncu holds

national records National Records was a record label that was started in New York City by Albert Green in 1945 and lasted until early 1951. Big Joe Turner was signed at the beginning and remained until 1947. Billy Eckstine was also a big seller for the label as w ...

in 50m, 100m and 200m backstroke events set in 2009. He has been a Turkish national team member for more than 25 years. Büyükuncu qualified to participate at the 2012 Summer Olympics. 2012 Summer Olympics was his sixth consecutive Olympics.

Media career

Derya 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 ''Survivor Turkey'' is the Turkish version of the popular reality ''Survivor''. This version of the show has aired on both Kanal D in 2005, and on Show TV in 2006, 2007, and 2010. From the beginning Survivor was a success in Turkey, however, t ...

'' TV Show in 2011 and ended up winning the title of "Sole Champion Survivor".

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
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buyukuncu, Derya 1976 births Living people Turkish male backstroke swimmers Turkish male butterfly swimmers Olympic swimmers of Turkey Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Michigan Wolverines men's swimmers Galatasaray Swimming swimmers Sportspeople from Istanbul Survivor (franchise) winners Kadıköy Anadolu Lisesi alumni Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games silver medalists for Turkey Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Turkey Swimmers at the 1991 Mediterranean Games Swimmers at the 1993 Mediterranean Games Swimmers at the 1997 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in swimming