Israel wins gold, silver in women’s event at European swimming championship

Anastasia Gorbenko claims champion’s title for third time in a row in 200m individual medley, Lea Polonsky adds success; brother Ron Polonsky fastest qualifier in men’s event

Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.

Israeli swimmer Anastasia Gorbenko won a gold medal in the women's 200 meters individual medley event at the European Aquatics Championships, June 22, 2024. (Simona Castervillari, Israel Swimming Association)
Israeli swimmer Anastasia Gorbenko won a gold medal in the women's 200 meters individual medley event at the European Aquatics Championships, June 22, 2024. (Simona Castervillari, Israel Swimming Association)

Israel won gold and silver in the women’s 200-meter individual medley event at the European Aquatics Championships in Belgrade on Saturday, adding to a growing bag of medals that is expected to get even larger.

Anastasia Gorbenko, 20, took first place in the medley with a time of 2:09:75, cementing her dominance with a third champion’s title in succession in the event. She previously won gold in 2022 and 2021 at the Aquatics Championships.

Teammate Lea Polonsky, 22, propelled herself to second place with a time of 2:11:18, fast enough to qualify for the coming Paris Olympics, where Gorbenko is now considered a serious contender for a medal in a sport for which Israel has never had an athlete stand on the podium at the global event.

Gorbenko spoke of her pride at Israel scoring the top two places in the race.

“I am so excited for my teammate. She made the cut and we went 1-2 for Israel, which is huge for us,” she was quoted as saying on the championship’s official website. “I think that is what I am most excited about today.”

There was more good news when Polonsky’s older brother Ron, also a swimmer, set a new Israeli record of 1:57:01 while competing in the 200-meter men’s individual medley semifinal. Polonsky shaved 98 hundredths of a second off his previous record, set in the 2022 world championships in Hungary. In addition to earning him a place at the Olympics, the time was the fastest among the eight contestants who qualified for the event final that will be held Sunday evening, making him a favorite for the gold.

Another Israeli record was set in the 50-meter breaststroke, where Kristian Pitshugin won a bronze medal with a time of 27:02 seconds.

Gorbenko has already won gold in the 400m individual medley, the 4x100m mixed medley relay, and the 4x200m freestyle relay in the competition. Polonsky also won a gold in latter event.

So far the Israeli team has taken eight medals places at the championships: four golds, one silver, and three bronze.

Gorbenko has won gold medals at numerous other events in recent years, including a pair of first-place finishes at the 2021 World Swimming Championships in Abu Dhabi, the first Israeli to manage the feat.

She also competed in the Tokyo Olympics, where she became the first female Israeli swimmer to make it to a final, though she came short of a medal.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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