2023 ISRAELI CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, June 7th – Saturday, June 10th
- Wingate Institute
- LCM (50m)
- World Championships Qualifier
- Results
The 2023 Israeli Championships kicked off today from the Wingate Institute and two individual national records have already been broken.
Competing in the men’s 400m freestyle, Bar Soloveychik first set a new Israeli standard in the morning heats before he overwrote it again in the evening final. The morning saw the 22-year-old clock a time of 3:48.66 to knock over a second off of his own previous national record of 3:49.77 set in 2021.
Come the final, Soloveychik fired off a mark of 3:48.55 to drop his newly-minted record down by .11 en route to gold. Although he fell just shy of the 3:48.15 needed to qualify for this summer’s World Championships, Soloveychik’s outing did dip under the time needed for the inaugural U23 Championships in Dublin later this year.
Soloveychik trains at the University of Minnesota where he just wrapped up his sophomore year.
The women’s 400m free also saw its record go down, courtesy of Daria Golovati.
Just 17 years of age, Golovati, who trains in Tom Rushton‘s group, produced a winning effort of 4:11.40 to crush the previous national record of 4:13.79 that’s been on the books since 2016. Runner-up Ayla Spitz also beat the previous record, clocking a result of 4:12.78 for the silver medal.
Entering this meet, Golovati’s previous career-quickest rested at the 4:14.94 she registered just last month on the Mare Nostrum Tour. As for Spitz, her best effort entering this meet was represented by the 4:14.56 notched last year. Both women made the grade for the aforementioned U23 Championships.
Of note, Spitz used to represent the United States but is now racing for Israel.
Golovati also went on to win the women’s 50m free, scoring a new meet record of 25.88 in the process. She’s been as fast as 25.44, a result she produced en route to placing 4th at last year’s Europan Junior Championships.
David Gerchik busted out a new personal best en route to topping the men’s 200m back podium.
The Rushton-trained Gerchik got to the wall in a result of 1:57.95 in the morning heats and overtook that with a slightly quicker 1:57.64 to ultimately take the gold. Both efforts surpassed the 1:58.90 he nabbed on the last stop of the Mare Nostrum Tour in Monaco.
The good news for Gerchik is that his winning time beat the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard of 1:58.07 needed for this summer’s World Championships, adding his name to the Israeli roster for this July.
As a refresher, Gerchik has verbally committed to swim for Northwestern University for the 2023-24 school year.
Additional Winners
- Aviv Barzelay got it done for gold in the women’s 200m back, earning gold in a time of 2:11.30. The Texas A&M athlete already qualified for the World Championships in this event.
- Meiron Cheruti clocked a time of 22.15 to top the men’s 50m free podium.
Pre-selected* Swimmers for 2023 World Championships
*Achieved the World Aquatics ‘A’ standard at the 2022 World Championships (or 1% of the A standard for 50m back/breast/fly) and came within 2% of the A standard after March 1, 2023
- Meiron Cheruti – 50m free
- Michael Laytarovsky – 50m back
- Tomer Frankel – 100m fly
- Gal Cohen Groumi – 100m fly, 200m IM
- Ron Polonsky – 200m IM
- Aviv Barzelay – 200m back
- Anastasia Gorbenko – 200m IM
The women’s 400 is so soft(as are all other freestyle events, and it gets worse with distance).
Hopefully Spitz and Golovati can push it down into respectable territory over the coming years.
The men’s 400 is better but still quite soft, let’s see what moves over there.
Lastly, glad to see an Israeli back in the 1:57s in the 200 back. While it’s not considered elite anymore(last one to break 1:58 was Toumarkin and it got him to the Olympic final in London), it’s a step in the right direction.
Now can he break 54 in the 100 and make the 400MR worth something?
Apparently, there are 4 new swimmers in the Israeli arena that originally swam in the US. The most promising at this stage is Spitz which gives Israel’s 4*200 women’s team a chance for an Olympic spot. Another promise is Rice U. Arielle Hayon who gives the Medley teams (Women and mixed?) a boost towards world champs on the fly leg.