Serkan Atasay

Serkan Atasay

Personal information
Full name	Serhiy Anatoliyevich Serhieiev
National team	Ukraine Turkey
Born	(1970-03-11) 11 March 1970 Zaporizhia, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Height	1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)
Weight	72 kg (159 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Butterfly, medley
Club	Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü (TUR)
Coach	Oleksandr Yaremenko (UKR)

Serhiy Anatoliyevich Serhieiev (also Serkan Atasay, Ukrainian: Сергій Анатолійович Сергеєв; born March 11, 1970) is a Ukrainian-born Turkish swimmer, who specialized in butterfly and individual medley events. He is a three-time Olympian (1996, 2004, and 2008), a multiple-time Ukrainian champion, and a five-time Turkish record holder in the same stroke. He is also a member of Fenerbahçe Swimming.

Atasay's Olympic debut came as a member of the Ukrainian team at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. There, he placed twenty-third in the 200 m individual medley with a time of 2:06.30.

Eight years later, Atasay qualified again for the 200 m individual medley by clearing a FINA B-cut of 2:03.01 from the Ukrainian Open Championships in Kiev. Swimming in heat four, he edged out Barbados' Bradley Ally to take a third spot and twenty-second overall by 0.03 of a second in 2:03.26.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Atasay accepted his nationality transfer by FINA to play for the Turkish team under a new name Serkan Atasay. He qualified for the third straight time in the 200 m individual medley by achieving a FINA B-standard entry time of 2:04.56 from the Acropolis Grand Prix in Athens, Greece. He challenged six other swimmers on the second heat, including two-time Olympian Miguel Molina of the Philippines. Atasay edged out Venezuela's Leopoldo Andara to take the sixth spot by nearly half a second (0.50) in 2:05.25. Atasay failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed forty-second overall in the preliminary heats.

External links

• NBC Olympics Profile