ILDEM Elif

Date of Birth: 20 Jun 1995

Age: 26

Gender: Female

Sport Class: S1

Place of birth: ISTANBUL

Birth Country:

Turkey

Place of residence : ISTANBUL

Residence Country:

Turkey

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Swimming	Women's 100m Freestyle - S3
	Women's 50m Backstroke - S2	8
	Women's 100m Backstroke - S2	8

Records

Record	Event	Mark	Date	Location

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 100m Backstroke - S2 Heat 1	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 100m Backstroke - S2 Final	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 100m Freestyle - S3 Heat 1	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 50m Backstroke - S2 Heat 2	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Women's 50m Backstroke - S2 Final	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Rank	Event	Year	Location	Result
World Championships
5	50m Backstroke - S2	2019	London, GBR	1:36.28
5	100m Backstroke - S2	2019	London, GBR	3:22.52
7	50m Backstroke - S3	2017	Mexico City, MEX	1:35.50
10	100m Freestyle - S3	2019	London, GBR	3:18.59
European Championships
6	50m Backstroke - S3	2020	Funchal, POR	1:39.07
12	50m Freestyle - S4	2020	Funchal, POR	1:38.99

Travelling, watching films, extreme sports, reading. (Athlete, 12 Sep 2019; cumhuriyet.com.tr, 29 Dec 2020)

Occupation:

Athlete, Psychologist

Psychology - Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey

Languages spoken:

English, Turkish

Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediyesi SK [Turkey]

Sporting relatives:

Her uncle Dayim Huseyn has served as a wrestling coach at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Sports Club in Turkey. (elifildem.com, 14 Feb 2020)

She began Para swimming at age 20 at the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Sports Club in Turkey. (Athlete, 12 Sep 2019, 04 Dec 2017; cumhuriyet.com.tr, 29 Dec 2020)

She took up the sport as part of her rehabilitation. "I had to swim on the recommendation of the doctor. 'You can come and swim in our club', my uncle said to me. Of course, at first, we were thinking more for rehabilitation, but when I entered the pool, my coaches always said to me, 'You swim very well, you have to participate in the races'. It was the first time that I met sport in a professional sense. It was a turning point in my life." (elifildem.com, 14 Feb 2020; Athlete, 12 Sep 2019, 04 Dec 2017)

To win a gold medal at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (haberturk.com, 04 Sep 2020; cumhuriyet.com.tr, 29 Dec 2020)

Competing at the 2017 World Championships in Mexico City, Mexico. (Athlete, 12 Sep 2019)

Turkish Greco-Roman wrestler Cenk Ildem. (Athlete, 12 Sep 2019)

Coach Mehmet Fatih Kurt. (Athlete, 04 Dec 2017)

Philosophy:

"Know me for my abilities, not my disability." [Robert M Hensel] (Instagram profile, 15 Oct 2020)

General Interest

Classification
S2, SB1, SM2 (IPC, 03 Mar 2021)

Impairment Details
She has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease [CMT], which affects the peripheral nerves and causes muscle wasting and weakness. (Athlete, 04 Dec 2017, 12 Sep 2019)

General
POSITIVE EFFECTS
She has spoken about the positive effect swimming has on her physical and mental condition. "Since I have Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and I am in a wheelchair, of course swimming has very positive effects. The most important thing is the psychological impact. My social life has become more diverse. I have started to look at life more positively. As I feel free in the water, it also reflects in the outside world. Although competing can cause performance anxiety and other stresses we experience in sports, I can say that swimming has reduced the anxiety that I experience in general daily life." (gazeteduvar.com.tr, 17 Dec 2019)

FURTHER EDUCATION
In 2019 she graduated with a master's degree in clinical psychology from Bahcesehir University in Istanbul, Turkey. "I received training in the field of sports psychology. There are many physically impaired athletes in Turkey. I want to specialise in this field and help them. I try to combine my sports and academic career." (independentturkish.com, 16 Dec 2019; LinkedIn profile, 01 Jan 2020; cumhuriyet.com.tr, 29 Dec 2020)

Social Media

https://www.facebook.com/elif.ildem.9
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Elif-Ildem-104511504393159
https://instagram.com/elifildem
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elif-ildem-71b64311a
https://twitter.com/elifildem
Athlete Website: http://www.elifildem.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEsBMshaEeyF1GByHgPHj9A

Legend

:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

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