Israel has announced their Olympic swimming roster of 6 athletes, which is second-most among any spot on the 36-athlete lineup the country will send to London.
The biggest name to be left out is backstroker Guy Barnea, a 2008 Olympian who swam collegiately at Cal. Despite being an elite backstroker, he was only third-ranked and never hit his FINA “A” time, so his younger counterparts Johanthan Kopelev and Yakov Toumarkin earned the spots after spectacular, record-crushing performances at the European Championships.
The rest of the team includes former Arizona Wildcat Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or, who sat out this NCAA season to focus on Olympic preparations; Amit Ivri, who has been rising the last two years on the women’s 100 butterfly scene, and Gal Nevo, who is a former All-American from Georgia Tech (and sort of Israel’s version of Tyler Clary).
Women
Amit Ivri – 100 fly/200 IM
Men
Gal Nevo – 200/400 IM; 200 Fly
Nimrod Shapira Bar-Or – 100/200 Free
Jonathan Kopalev – 100 Back
Yakob Toumarkin – 100/200 Back
Imrit Ganiel – 100/200 breast
