Texas A&M Commit Aviv Barzelay Clocks Israeli 100 Back Junior Record

2020 CORONAVIRUS DAYS COMPETITION

• Friday, July 17th
• Wingate Institute, Netanya, Israel
• 25m (SCM)
• Results

The 2020 Coronavirus Days Competition took place over the weekend in Israel, with the nation’s 4-month drought on swimming competitions coming to an end.

The event was organized by two local clubs, Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Emek Hefer, with the assistance and supervision of the Israel Swimming Association. Held at the Wingate Institute in Netanya, Israel, the one-day affair saw two junior national records bit the dust when the racing of nearly 700 swimmers was done and dusted.

Texas A&M commit Aviv Barzelay got under the 1:00 threshold in the women’s 100m backstroke, clocking a time of 59.42 in this short course meters race to take the gold. With her outing, Barzelay became Israel’s first-ever youth swimmer to break the minute barrier, blasting the previous national junior record of 1:00.15 Anastasia Gorbenko established in 2018.

The national record in the women’s SCM 100m back event rests at the 58.43 Anna Gostomelsky set over a decade ago in 2008, but Barzelay’s performance checks-in as the 4th fastest in Israeli history.

On the men’s side, 18-year-old Gal Cohen Groumi struck down the national junior record in the SCM 200m IM, stopping the clock in a time of 1:56.85. Groumi earned the silver medal behind 19-year-old teammate Ron Polonsky, who snagged the gold in Israeli’s 3rd fastest time ever of 1:56.37.

 The meet was held without spectators and swimmers were required to wear masks while outside of the pool. You can get a feel for the social distancing measures in the photos below, courtesy of Israel Swimming Association.