March 20, 2004

College Station, Texas - Illinois senior Ilkay Dikmen completed competition at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, on the campus of Texas A&M at the Student Recreation Center Natatorium Saturday, participating in the 200 breaststroke event as the only representative of the Illinois swimming and diving at the NCAA Championships.

Today, in the 200 breast event Dikmen finished 15th touching the wall in 2:29.60 in the preliminary session and advanced to the consolation final in the evening session. In the consolation final, Dikmen held her position in 15th place with a time of 2:30.82. With a 15th place finish, the Turkish phenom earned Honorable-Mention All-American honors for the second consecutive year.

On Friday, Dikmen finished 23rd in the 100 breast.

Her performance Saturday morning in the preliminary session was another record breaking achievement. Dikmen's time of 2:29.60 was good enough to break her previous school record and became a new Turkish National Record. Both preliminary performances in the NCAA Championships were lifetime bests for Dikmen.

"I thought she had a good swim this morning," head coach Sue Novitsky said. "She gave it everything she had tonight. To earn All-American honors is a great way to end the season and a career."