Ediz Yıldırımer (; born 25 October 1993) is a Turkish freestyle swimmer competing particularly in the 800 m and 1500 m events. He represented his country at the

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

without advancing to the final. With his age of 14, he was the youngest ever Turkish athlete to take part at the Olympics.

Early years

Born at Gölcük in

Kocaeli Province Kocaeli Province (, ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey and one of only three not to have the same official name as its capital, İzmit, which is thus also sometim ...

, he began swimming at the age of six in

Konya Konya is a major city in central Turkey, on the southwestern edge of the Central Anatolian Plateau, and is the capital of Konya Province. During antiquity and into Seljuk times it was known as Iconium. In 19th-century accounts of the city in En ...

, where his family moved after the

1999 İzmit earthquake An earthquake of moment magnitude 7.6 struck Kocaeli Province, Turkey on 17 August 1999. According to official figures, at least 18,373 people died and 48,901 people were injured during the earthquake, and 5,840 people were missing. At least 15 ...

. He became there a member of Konya Firuze Swim Club, and was mentored in swimming techniques. Two years later, Yıldırımer returned to Kocaeli to join the cadets team.

Career

In 2003, Yıldırımer set a national record in 100 m freestyle of his age category at the Turkish Swimming Championships that was his first competition at national level. He accepted a scholarship offer from Tim Bauer, The Woodlands Swim Team's head coach. In 2009, he went to the United States as a foreign exchange student, and continued his high school education there. He graduated 2012 from the John Cooper School in

The Woodlands, Texas The Woodlands is a Special district (United States), special-purpose district and census-designated place (CDP) in the U.S. state of Texas in the Greater Houston, Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area. The Woodlands ...

. During this time, he was a member of the school team and set many records and reached to a lot of swimming accomplishments. Yıldırımer won the gold medal in the 800 m event and the bronze medal in the 1500 m at the 2010 European Junior Swimming Championships held in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. In 2011, he repeated the same success at the European Junior Championships held in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

. He was invited to participate in the 1500 m freestyle event at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

Achievements

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yildirimer, Ediz 1993 births Living people Turkish male freestyle swimmers Olympic swimmers for Turkey Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics People from Gölcük Sportspeople from Kocaeli Province Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Georgia Bulldogs men's swimmers Turkish expatriate swimmers in the United States Swimmers at the 2013 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games competitors for Turkey Competitors at the 2015 Summer Universiade 21st-century Turkish sportsmen Islamic Solidarity Games bronze medalists for Turkey