Gorbenko Grabs Israeli 50 Free Age Record

2020 Israeli Olympic Qualifier

• Wednesday, December 16th – Friday, December 18th
• Wingate Institute
• LCM (50m)
• Live Results

Day 1 of the Israeli Olympic Qualification Meet at the Wingate Institue already saw young gun Anastasia Gorbenko produce two new national age records.

Racing in the women’s 50m freestyle prelims, Gorbenko registered a new lifetime best of 25.23, a mark which overtook the previous age standard for 17-year-olds of 23.30 held by Zohar Schickler since 2016. Entering this meet, Gorbenko’s personal best rested at the 26.01 she registered in April of 2019.

Come tonight’s final, Gorbenko nearly hit the same mark, posting a winning effort of 25.24 to stand atop the women’s 50m free podium.

Also breaking a national age record was Loraine Cleveland Lungu with the 15-year-old posting a new PB of 26.22. En route to placing 4th in that 50m free final, Cleveland overtook the previous age mark of 26.29 set by Nicole Samsoniuk.

Gorbenko’s additional record came in the 200m free, where the LA Current wavemaker got under the 2:00 mark for the first time in her young career. Gorbenko touched the wall in a time of 1:59.30 for a new 17-year-old age record, overtaking her previous PB of 2:00.83 from last year’s Grand Challenge in the United States.

The men also did some damage to the record boards, with Adam Maraana getting it done for gold in the 100m backstroke. The 17-year-old blasted a lifetime best of 55.64 to dip under the previous age record held by Yakov Toumarkin from way back in 2009.

Finally, Meiron Cheruti came painstakingly close to qualifying for the Olympic Games, posting a winning 50m free time of 22.06. The FINA ‘A’ cut rests at 22.01, which means the 23-year-old came up just .05 short in this evening’s competition.