Gal Cohen Groumi is an Israeli butterfly and IM specialist. Collegiately, he represents the University of Michigan where he is a multi-time Big Ten Champion and Conference record holder. Internationally, he has made World Championship finals and Olympic Semifinals for Israel. Groumi is has been key in an Israeli Men’s Swimming resurgence, helping Israeli relays to multiple international finals.
Junior Swimming
2019 LEN European Junior Swimming Championships (Kazan, Russia)
Groumi advanced through the prelims and semifinals of the 200 IM with no issues, placing 2nd in prelims (2:02.02) and 4th in semis (2:01.87). It seemed he saved just enough for the final to net a medal, coming in 3rd with a 2:00.48. Right ahead of Groumi was fellow Israeli Ron Polonsky who took silver. He also made the 100 fly final with a 53.59 in semis for 7th after he posted a 53.87 in prelims for 8th. In the final, Groumi was 6th with a 53.26.
Groumi also did some heavy lifting on the Israeli relays. Most notably, he posted a 1:49.25 200 free split, the fastest on his nation’s 800 free relay. He also led off the 400 free relay in 50.53.
2019 FINA World Junior Championships (Budapest, Hungary)
As the 9th seed in both the 100 fly and 200 free, Groumi scratched out of the prelims. Instead, he swam, the 100 free, 200 breast, and 200 IM. He was just off his best in the 100 free with a 50.74 to just miss the semifinal in 17th. Earlier in the meet, he had led off the Israeli mixed 400 free relay in a 50.23. That time did not count as a PB because it was in a mixed relay. Groumis was also off his best times in both the 200 breast (2:22.48) and 200 IM (2:01.97). In the 200 IM, he just missed the final in 9th.
2019 Israeli Short Course Winter Championships (Netanya, Israel)
Goumi lowered the Youth National Record in the 200 IM with a quick 1:56.98.
2020 Coronavirus Days Competition (Netanya, Israel)
Groumi struck down the national junior record in the SCM 200 IM, stopping the clock in a time of 1:56.85. Groumi earned the silver medal behind Polonsky.
College Swimming
Groumi committed to the University of Michigan’s graduating class of 2025.
2021-22
In his very first yards meet, the SMU Classic, Groumi was solid, flexing 50 and 200 free relay splits of 19.84 and 1:34.38 respectively. He had similar success in his fly events in Dallas, splitting a 20.4 50 fly on the 200 medley relay and flat starting times of 46.06 and 1:43.01 in the 100 and 200 fly respectively.
Groumi was one of the biggest revelations of the mid-season invites. On just the first night, Groumi split a 20.21 on the fly leg as Michigan slimly lost to 2 Texas 200 medley relays with a swift 1:23.47, then the #4 time in the nation. Then, in the same session, Groumi anchored Michigan with a 1:32.22 split as they fell just under a second short of the Texas 800 free relay with a 6:11.02.
The next day, he took on the 200 IM where he took 3rd in 1:41.99 and mere minutes later, he split a 45.26 on fly to help Michigan to an ‘A’ cut in the 400 medley relay. Having the 200 IM just minutes before clearly tired Groumi as he was able to better his split from a flat start the following day. In the 100 fly final, Groumi just missed the win with a 45.16, a mere .01 seconds short of Umitcan Gures. The time fell just off the ‘A’ cut but was well under the previous cutline and the #4 time in the nation at the time.
On the final night, Groumi again just missed the ‘A’ cut but this time, he wrangled a win, posting a speedy 1:40.90 200 fly. Similarly to his 100 fly, it was the #4 time in the nation. Mere minutes later, Groumi split a respectable 42.63 on Michigan’s 400 free relay.
Groumi kept things low profile through the depths of winter before reemerging at the 2022 Big Ten Conference Championships. There, he popped off from his very first event. He split sub-20 seconds on the fly leg of the 200 medley relay for the first time with a 19.98 as Michigan took 3rd with a 1:22.90. Not long after, he neared his fastest 200 free split with a 1:32.47 as he anchored Michigan to a runner-up in the 800 free relay (6:14.59).
The next night, he was at it again, blazing a new best time in the 200 IM. He cruised through prelims with a 1:43.31 and then dropped the hammer in the final with a 1:41.54, a new best time, to win by nearly a second over Alex Quach (1:42.47). He rounded out that session with a 45.13 fly split in the 400 medley relay. The next morning, Groumi was part of just the 2nd-ever time that the 100 fly required a sub-46 for the A-Final at the Big Ten Championship with his 45.59. In the final, Groumi sat 6th at the 50 but found enough back-half speed to move into 3rd at the touch with a 45.01.
The next morning, Groumi again cruised through prelims, this time in the 200 fly with a 1:42.71. In the final, Groumi sat about half a second back of the leading pack of Brendan Burns, Alex Quach, and Federico Burdisso at the 100 but stormed past both Quach and Burdisso with a 52.29 back 100 to take 2nd with a 1:40.59; only Burn’s 1:39.81 was enough to top Groumi. Minutes later, he threw down a 42.15 split on the 400 free relay, his fastest split ever, as Michigan achieved an ‘A’ cut.
Arguably, Groumi was on even better form at the 2022 NCAA Championships. He got things started with a 19.77 fly split on Michigan’s 13th-place 200 medley relay. That was the 4th fastest fly split in the field. He backed that up with a 1:32.16 200 free relay split as Michigan Placed 14th in the 800 free relay. He kept his impressive from going with a 1:41.38 200 IM PB in prelims to make it back 11th. In the final, he found time to shave off on back and breast for another PB. His 1:41.09 was good to maintain his 11 seed. Michigan opted to use Groumi on the 200 free relay instead of the 400 free relay which he was on at both mid-season and conference championships. Groumi split a solid 19.03 and Michigan finished 15th.
On the 3rd day, Groumi broke 45 in the 100 fly for the first time to make it back to 11th. At the top of the ‘B’ final, it was a repeat of the Big Ten podium in a different order as Burns (44.82) beat out Groumi (44.82) and Quach took 11th. Groumi’s time was a new PR, dropping time on both 50s. At the end of the session, he was not able to recreate his 100 fly on the 400 medley relay and split 45.35 as Michigan failed to score.
The only individual event where Groumi was off form was the 200 fly. Still, he made his 3rd ‘B’ final with a solid 1:41.64. He maintained his prelims 15th place finish in the final with a 1:41.78.
2022-23
Groumi again remained under the radar until mid-season invites. He did compete at the SMU Classic in October (1:35.03/46.48/1:45.46 200 free/100/200 fly) but was a bit off the marks he set at this meet a year prior.
Come invite time, Groumi dispelled any concerns about his forms with a series of strong times and season bests at the Tennesee Invite. Opened the meet with solid relay legs on the 800 free relay (1:34.72, leadoff, new PB) 200 medley relay (20.26, fly). The next day, he topped the 200 IM with a solid 1:43.67 and threw down a solid 45.91 fly split on the 400 medley relay. Gourmi was solid in the 100 fly with a 45.68 and split a 19.30 on the 200 free relay. On the final day, he returned to the winner’s circle with a solid 1:41.40 200 fly, another season best. He finished off the meet with a PB of 43.06 leading off Michigan’s 400 free relay.
Groumi truly came into form at the 2023 Big Ten Championships hosted at his home pool at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. In the opening event, the 200 medley relay, essentially the entire field was locked in an intense battle with 7 teams within .6 seconds at the 100, and Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Ohio State locked in with only .06 seconds between them at the 100. Groumi dove in and delivered Michigan a slight lead over Ohio State with a 19.92 split on fly but OSU’s Ruslan Gaziev battled to the finish where it was Ohio State’s 1:23.03 that topped Michigan’s 1:23.07.
Not long after that thrilling 200 medley relay, Groumi returned to lead off Michigan’s 800 free relay. He kept up with the leading pack with a 1:32.96, nearly even with Wisconsin’s Jake Newmark (1:32.71) and Rafael Miroslaw (1:32.73). Freshman Eitan Ben-Shitrit followed with a strong 1:32.47 on the second leg, then Eduardo Moses (1:34.87) and Wyatt Davis (1:33.21) closed it out, en route to a 6:13.51 for 2nd behind IU and under the NCAA “A” cut.
The next day, he dominated the Big Ten in the 200 IM for the second year in a row, winning by over a second. His 1:41.20 was just off his best and under the NCAA “A” cut. After a disappointing DQ in the 400 medley relay, Groumi returned on the 3rd day with a vengeance. He posted a speedy 45.43 in prelims before crushing a huge 44.50 in the final, a new meet record.
On the final day, Groumi was denied a sweep of his individual events by Brendan Burns. In the 200 fly, Groumi got out faster at the 50 but Burns reeled him in by the 100 mark and widened his margin over the back 100, beating Groumi’s 1:40.21 with a 1:39.51. That time was still a PB for Groumi.
Groumi was not quite able to recreate the form he found at conferences at his home pool. He got off to a strong start, with a solid 19.93 fly split as Michigan just missed scoring in the 200 medley relay. He followed that up by leading off the 800 free relay with a new PB of 1:32.55. Despite his strong lead-off, U of M just barely scored in 15th with a 6:15.05.
The following morning, Groumi was well off his best in the 200 IM and finished out of scoring position in 20th. That night he still put together a solid 19.15 slit on Michagan’s 14th-place 200 free relay. The next day, Groumi Had a solid showing in the 100 fly with a 44.98 for 12th. That came after a 44.80 prelims swim that was just .30 seconds off his best time. To end that day, Groumi helped Michigan to another 14th-place finish, this time with a 45.44 fly split on their 400 medley relay.
On the final day, Gal Cohen Groumi and Tennessee freshman Martin Espernberger tied with times of 1:41.39 for 8th in prelims requiring a swim-off. Roughly an hour after the initial swims, the pair faced off head-to-head to determine who would end up in the A-final and who would be relegated to the B-final. it was an incredibly close race, as the pair stayed essentially side-by-side the entire time. But ultimately, Groumi got Espernberger at the touch, winning 1:41.40 to 1:41.58 to make his first NCAA “A” final. After swimming 2 200 flys in prelims, Groumi swam a still impressive 1:42.37 for 8th.
National/International Swimming
2019 FINA World Championships (Gwangju, South Korea)
Just 17, Groumi split a swift 1:47.53 to anchor the Israeli 800 free relay. It was the fastest split on that relay.
2020 Israeli Olympic Qualifier (Netanya, Israel)
Groumi won the men’s 400 IM in 4:28.11. Groumi cut about .2 seconds off his career-best swim.
2021 Israel National Championships + Olympics Trials (Netanya, Israel)
Gourami was 1 of 4 men under 50 seconds in the 100-free. Leading the pack was Meiron Cheruti (49.23), followed by Tomer Frankel (49.27), Denis Loktev (49.42) and Groumi (49.62). Groumi just missed the FINA ‘A’ cut of 51.96 needed to qualify for Tokyo in the 100 fly with a 52.05. He was also quick in the 200 free with a 1:47.77 200 free, good for gold.
2021 Sette Colli Trophy (Rome, Italy)
Israel was among the nations who have identified the Sette Colli Trophy as a last-chance qualifier for the Games. While he missed the podium, Groumi dipped under the FINA ‘A’ cut of 51.96 with a 51.93, marking his 1st time under 52 seconds. Splitting 24.40/27.53, Groumi joined the already qualified Tomer Frankel on the Israeli Olympic Roster for the 100 fly. He also hit a 1:59.56 200 IM, taking the silver behind Alberto Razzetti.
2020(1) Olympic Games (Tokyo, Japan)
In his first Olympic Games, Groumi started with the 800 free relay. He split a swift 1:46.41 as the anchor, well under his best time but not quite enough to earn a second swim as the Israeli squad was just under a second short of finaling. It was, however, an Israeli record. He then took on the 200 IM where he notched a PB of 1:59.44. He scratched the 100 fly the next day but still swam fly on the Israeli mixed 400 medley relay. In prelims he split a 51.06 as Israel just made the final in 8th with a new national record. Groumi was about .5 seconds slower with a 51.58 split in the final as the squad maintained seed.
2022 FINA World Championships (Budapest, Hungary)
Groumi made 2 semi-finals and posted PBs in both the 200 IM and 100 fly. In the former, he set his new PB of 1:59.34 in prelims and just missed that in semis with a 1:59.67 for 13th. In the latter he was just off his best in prims with a 51.96 before hitting a new PB of 51.79 for 15th in semis. Groumi also swam on the Israeli 400 and 800 free relays. In the former, he split 48.28, the fastest of his squad, but missed out on the final with a 9th-place finish in prelims. On the latter, he was a solid 1:47.88 on the anchor. Similarly, the 800 free relay missed the final as well, this time in 10th.
2023 Israeli Championships (Natanya, Israel)
Groumi took on the 200 IM where he took silver in 2:03.09. In the same session, he was able to watch Israeli teammate and IU conference rival Tomer Frankel undercut his national record of 51.79 from 2022 Worlds with a 51.14 100 fly. Groumi was named to the 2023 Israeli Worlds Team.
2023 World Aquatics Championships (Fukuoka, Japan)
Israel’s 400 free relay squad of Denis Loktev (49.10), Frankel (48.01), Ron Polonsky (48.83), and Groumi (48.09) combined for a 3:14.03, breaking the old Israeli record by more than a second. The swim also put them through to the finals, where they finished seventh with a slower 3:14.53 as Groumi split 48.57.
In the 200 IM Groumi was 20th with a 2:00.00. In the 100 fly, Israel put up 2 swimmers in the semi-final. Frankel (51.76) made it back in 15th behind Groumi’s new PB of 51.61 which was good for 13th. In the semis, Groumi crushed a new national record with a 50.98. That brought it under 51 seconds for the first time, hitting 50.98 and qualifying for the final. He tied with Nyls Korstanje for 5th. In the final Groumi was just off that form with a 51.32 for 8th. In the 800 free relay, Groumi split a 1:46.82, the fastest on the Israeli Squad
–This biography was originally developed by Lucas Caswell
