The Israel Swimming Association announced on Sunday, as aquatics teams departed for the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, that David Gerchik has returned home to Israel and will not participate in the meet after getting sick during a training camp in Hong Kong.
Gerchik, one of 8 male pool swimmers who were originally named to the roster, came down with a case of mononucleosis (also known as glandular fever). The 22-year-old qualified for the team by winning the 200 backstroke in a personal best time of 1:57.64 at the Israeli Championships in early June.
His coach Tom Rushton, who is also the head coach of the Israeli delegation, says that the withdrawal is especially heartbreaking because Gerchik is a Japanophile and even speaks some Japanese.
Gerchik finished 14th at last year’s European Championships in the 200 back, but since then is more than two seconds faster. He is scheduled to swim in the United States at Northwestern University in the fall.
The rest of the Israeli squad will begin camping in Hong Kong before heading across the East China Sea to Fukuoka.
Israel Pool Swimming Roster for the World Championships:
- Gal Cohen Groumi
- Meiron Charuti
- Tomer Frankel
- Denis Loktev
- Bar Soloveytchik
- Ron Polonsky
- Daniel Namir
- Michael Laitarovsky
- Anastasia Gorbenko
- Aviv Barzelay
- Ayla Spitz
- Leah Polonsky
- Daria Golovati
Israel Open Water Swimming Roster for the World Championships:
- Men’s 10k – Matan Roditi, Ziv Cohen
- Women’s 10k – Eva Fabian, Orin Gavlan
- Men’s 5k – Ziv Cohen
- Women’s 5k – Eva Fabian
- 6km relay – Fabian, Gavlan, and TBD two men among Cohen, Ruditi, and Yonatan Ahdot.
Hope he feels better now
hope he gets better soon