UNION CUP (ISRAEL)
- Monday, March 29th – Thursday, April 1st
- The National Pool at the Wingate Institute
- LCM (50m)
- Results
The 2021 Union Cup in Israel kicked off with already one national record biting the dust. Competing in the men’s 400m free, Bar Soloveychik clocked a new national standard, getting to the wall first in a time of 3:49.77.
20-year-old Soloveychik actually knocked down Denis Loktev’s previous Israeli record of 3:51.45 during this moring’s prelims, firing off a personal best of 3:50.79 to approach the sub-3:50 barrier. Entering this meet, Soloveychik’s career-quickest was marked by the 3:52.05 he logged last December’s Israeli Winter Olympic Trials.
On Soloveychik becoming the first man from his nation to get into the 3:49-zone in the 400m free, the swimmer said, “The feeling is amazing, I have worked very hard all last year and I am glad it paid off. After breaking the record in the morning I felt I could improve further, and I am glad it succeeded in the final. Great fun to be the first in history to drop 3:50, but there “I have a lot more to give and for me this is just the beginning.”
The FINA ‘A’ cut for this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan is set at 3:46.78, so Soloveychik will have his work cut out for him in dropping another 3 seconds.
Of note, Soloveychik is a University of Minnesota-commit, of which you can read more here.
Additional Notes:
- Zohar Schikler clinched the women’s 50m freestyle win in a time of 25.39, her fastest outing since the 2016 Olympic Games.
- Adam Maraana, just 18 years of age, overtook the Israeli Junior Record in the men’s 100m back. His time of 55.07 overtook Yakov Toumarkin’s previous record.