Demir Atasoy (also Dmitry Cherkasov, born May 26, 1987, in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR) is a Ukrainian-born Turkish swimmer, who specialized in the breaststroke events. Laureate of the National Rating «Top 100 Outstanding Men of Kyiv Region».
Career Atasoy qualified for the men's 100 m breaststroke at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, by clearing a FINA B-standard time of 1:02.43 from the Croatian Open Championships in Dubrovnik. He challenged seven other swimmers on the fourth heat, including three-time Olympian Jakob Jóhann Sveinsson of Iceland. Atasoy edged out Serbia's Čaba Silađi to take the second spot by six hundredths of a second (0.06), posting his lifetime best of 1:02.25. Atasoy failed to advance into the semifinals, as he placed thirty-ninth overall on the first night of preliminaries.
At the 2013 Mediterranean Games held in Mersin, Turkey, he won the bronze medal in the men's 4 × 100 m medley relay.
He won four gold medals and one silver medal at the 2013 Islamic Solidarity Games held in Palembang, Indonesia.
Achievements 201317th Mediterranean Games Mersin, Turkey3rd 4 × 100 m medley 3rd Islamic Solidarity Games Palembang, Indonesia1st 50 m breaststroke 28.211st 100 m breaststroke 1:02.271st 4 × 100 m freestyle relay 3:24.771st 4 × 100 m medley relay 3:44.202nd 4 × 200 m freestyle relay 7:32.20
References
External links NBC Olympics Profile Dmytro Cherkasov Family Photoshoot