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Student Coach Ilkay Dikmen won seven national championships and broke six national records this summer.
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Aug. 30, 2005
From August 4-17 Illinois student assistant and former Illini standout Ilkay Dikmen competed in the Turkish National Championships and World University Games adding to her already impressive resume. In her fourth year swimming for the Turkish National team she set six national records while going on to win seven national championships. As well as competing in the 50, 100 and 200 breaststroke Dikmen was apart of three national championship relay teams. At the World University Games in Dikmen's hometown of Izmir, Turkey she broke her own national record in the 200 breaststroke in addition to placing 8th and 15th in the 100 and 50 breaststroke respectfully.
Dikmen commented on her experience during the summer by saying, "I am really happy with all of my swims at the national championships. The University Games came right after the National Championships, so there was not a lot of rest between the two meets. I was most excited to make the A final in the 100 breaststroke and with the Games being in my hometown, everyone was very excited and I could feel everyone behind me the entire meet"
Coach Novitsky added, "I am really proud of the way Ilkay was able to compete this summer. She ended up doing a lot of training on her own and that is not an easy thing to do. It was terrific to see her improve and continue to step up at her competitions."
Dikmen returns to the team in preparation for the 2005-06 swimming season until graduating in December.
