THE TIMES 1994 SPRING ALL-COUNTY TEAMS : No One Is Close to Buyukuncu : Swimmer of the year: Woodbridge senior steps up a notch, proves he’s one to beat in county, state and nation.

Once in a great while, a swimmer will come along whose talent is metaphysical. Such is the case of Woodbridge’s Derya Buyukuncu, The Times Orange County swimmer of the year.

Though it seemed impossible that the 17-year-old Turkish student could swim any faster than last year, Buyukuncu came back in 1994 and made sure everyone knew he was the swimmer to reckon with in the county, the state and the nation.

Buyukuncu came to Orange County to train with the Irvine Novaquatics in 1991. However, he was sidelined his sophomore year at Woodbridge because he didn’t meet residency requirements. However, as a junior at the Southern Section Division I finals, he broke Derek Weatherford’s 1988 national backstroke record.

At the Southern Section finals this year, Buyukuncu was after another record--Joe Hudepohl’s national high school mark in the 50 freestyle. But because of the official’s quirky start commands, Buyukuncu held onto the blocks for an extra moment in fear of being disqualified. He finished the race in 20.27, breaking the section record he set in the preliminaries a day before, but falling short of the record of 20.01.

“I know I could have gotten that record,” he said. “I just couldn’t take the chance and get DQ’d. That wouldn’t be good for the team.”

Buyukuncu, who will attend Michigan in the fall, came back in the same meet to set a national record in the 100 backstroke and a section record in the 100 free.