Israel’s mixed swim team reaches historic Olympic final; Barzelay reaches semifinal

29 July 2021, 2:56 pm

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Israel's Anastasya Gorbenko (R), Itay Goldfaden (C) and Gal Cohen Groumi cheer after qualifying in a heat for the mixed 4x100m medley relay swimming event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Tokyo on July 29, 2021. (Photo by Odd ANDERSEN / AFP)

Israeli swimmer Aviv Barzelay qualifies for the semifinals in the women’s 200-meter backstroke event at the Olympics, as Israel’s mixed team in the 4X100 individual medley makes it to a historic final, in a good day for the Jewish state’s athletes in the pool in Tokyo.

Barzelay places 15th overall with a time of 2:11.13 (the top 16 qualify).

A short while later, the Israeli quartet — Anastasia Gorbenko (backstroke), Itay Goldfaden (breaststroke), Gal Cohen Groumi (butterfly) and Andi Murez (freestyle) — finishes fifth in the heat and eighth overall with a time of 3:43.94, a new Israeli record.

It is the fourth Olympic final for Israeli swimmers in history and the second in these Games, following Gorbenko’s final in the 100-meter backstroke.