Yasemin Dalkılıç (born 2 May 1979) is a Turkish female

free diver Freediving, free-diving, free diving, breath-hold diving, or skin diving is a form of underwater diving that relies on apnea, breath-holding until resurfacing rather than the use of breathing apparatus such as scuba set, scuba gear. Besides the l ...

. She holds numerous records in different categories of free diving. Though still in the middle of her career, she is already considered to be one of the all-time greats in the sport.

Biography

Yasemin Dalkılıç was born and grew up in

Ankara Ankara ( , ; ), historically known as Ancyra and Angora, is the capital of Turkey. Located in the central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5.1 million in its urban center and over 5.7 million in Ankara Province, maki ...

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 ...

, some away from the nearest coast. At age 14, she was a member of the national

monofin A monofin is a type of swimfin typically used in underwater sports such as finswimming, free-diving and underwater orienteering. It consists of a single or linked surfaces attached to both of the diver's feet, emulating the fluke of Cetacean ...

finswimming Finswimming is an underwater sport consisting of four techniques involving swimming with the use of fins either on the water's surface using a snorkel with either monofins or bifins or underwater with monofin either by holding one's breath or ...

team, where she stayed for several years and set several Turkish records. By the time she was 16, she had established herself as the best freediver in her country. In 1996, she started as a student in the mathematics department at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, where she became a member of the Subaqua Society. In 1998 Dalkılıç competed in the Freediving World Cup in

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...

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 Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, where she clinched the first place among the women. A year later, in 1999, Yasemin made an acquaintance that would change her life. International trainer Rudi Castineyra, who would guide world champions Alejandro Ravelo, Tanya Streeter and David Lee to several world records, showed great interest in her. Yasemin started a training regime designed by Rudi Castineyra. Under his guidance she set her first world record with a dive to . In 2000 the duo set their sights on variable ballast freediving, which comprises two categories. On 19 and 23 July Dalkılıç beat the existing world records in the limited and unlimited variable ballast categories by reaching and respectively. In 2001, she set two more world records. First improving her own mark in the limited variable ballast with a dive in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

and three months later, a second one in the unassisted constant ballast category, with a dive to in

Kaş Kaş (; el, Αντίφελλος, translit=Antífellos, translit-std=ISO) is a small fishing, diving, yachting and tourist town, and a district of Antalya Province of Turkey, 168 km west of the city of Antalya. As a tourist resort, it is re ...

Antalya Province Antalya Province ( tr, ) is located on the Mediterranean coast of south-west Turkey, between the Taurus Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea. Antalya Province is the centre of Turkey's tourism industry, attracting 30% of foreign tourists visi ...

Records

*Unassisted Constant Ballast 40 m, 1:56 min WR on 22 October 2001 in Kardamena, on the island of

Antalya la, Attalensis grc, Ἀτταλειώτης , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 07xxx , area_code = (+90) 242 , registration_plate = 07 , blank_name = Licence plate ...

*Limited Variable Ballast 105 m, 2:38 min WR on 15 July 2001 in

Hurghada Hurghada (; ar, الغردقة ', ) is a city in the Red Sea Governorate of Egypt. It is one of the country's main tourist centres located on the Red Sea coast. Overview Hurghada was founded in the early 20th century. For many decades it wa ...

by the Island of Abu Ramada in the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

*Unlimited Variable Ballast 120 m WR on 23 July 2000 in

Bodrum Bodrum () is a port city in Muğla Province, southwestern Turkey, at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Its population was 35,795 at the 2012 census, with a total of 136,317 inhabitants residing within the district's borders. Known in ancient ...

, Turkey *Limited Variable Ballast 100 m 2:22 min WR on 19 July 2000 in Bodrum *Limited Variable Ballast 96 m 2:22 min WR on 14 July 2000 in Bodrum *Equipment Assisted Constant Ballast 68 m 2:27 min WR on 7 November 1999

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalkilic, Yasemin 1979 births Living people Middle East Technical University alumni Sportspeople from Ankara Turkish freedivers Turkish sportswomen

Biography

Records

See also

References