Erel Halevi (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

: אראל הלוי; born 13 January 1991) is an Israeli swimmer, who competes for her nation internationally. As well as taking part in the

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

, she has also won two bronze medals at the

IPC Swimming European Championships The World Para Swimming European Championships (World Para Swimming European Open Championships), known until 2018 as the IPC Swimming European Championships, are the European continental championships for swimming where athletes with a disabilit ...

Career

Erel Halevi was born on 13 January 1991. At the age of 11, she became reliant on a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

due to an

autoimmune disease An autoimmune disease is a condition that results from an anomalous response of the adaptive immune system, wherein it mistakenly targets and attacks healthy, functioning parts of the body as if they were foreign organisms. It is estimated tha ...

, learning to walk on crutches after some time. Halevi underwent rehabilitation at

Sheba Medical Center Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel HaShomer (), also known as Tel HaShomer Hospital, is the largest hospital in Israel, located in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan in the Tel HaShomer neighborhood, Israel. In 2025, ''Newsweek'' ranked it as ...

for several years, but saw no further improvement in her condition. She remained positive, as she had already seen progress in moving from the wheelchair to crutches. Although given the option not to serve due to her medical condition, Halevi volunteered for the

Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy (, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'', ; ) is the Israel Defense Forces#Arms, naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in the Mediterranean Sea theater as well as the Gulf of Eilat and the Red Sea th ...

as she felt that serving in the

Israeli Defense Forces Israeli may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the State of Israel * Israelis, citizens or permanent residents of the State of Israel * Modern Hebrew, a language * ''Israeli'' (newspaper), published from 2006 to 2008 * Guni Israeli (b ...

formed a part of a normal life for people from her country. She learned to swim through the Israeli Foundation for Handicapped Children (ILAN), where she was spotted by coach Yaakov Banison. He pushed her, as he saw the potential for Halevi to go to the

Summer Paralympics The Summer Paralympics, also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebr ...

. She made the ILAN team, and then the national team. Her first major event was the

2009 IPC Swimming European Championships The 2009 IPC Swimming European Championships was an international Swimming (sport), swimming competition. It was held in Reykjavík, Iceland and ran from 18 to 24 October. Around 650 athletes from 37 different countries attended. Great Britain fini ...

, where she won a bronze medal in the women's 50 meter freestyle in the S7 disability classification. At the 2011 IPC Swimming European Championships, she finished fourth in the 400 meters freestyle. Prior to the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

, Halevi took part in the Berlin Swimming Open, where she won a gold medal in the 400 meters freestyle. At the Paralympics, she finished 12th overall in the 50 meters freestyle among her other events. Halevi won a further bronze medal in the 50 meter freestyle at the

2016 IPC Swimming European Championships The 2016 IPC Swimming European Championships was an international swimming competition. It was held in Funchal, Madeira running from 30 April to 7 May. Around 450 athletes from 50 different countries attended the competition. This was the last maj ...

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Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

. She finished behind the UK's

Susie Rodgers Susannah Elizabeth Joy Rodgers, (born 9 August 1983) is a British Paralympic swimmer. She competes in S7 classification events and won three bronze medals at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and a gold at the 2016 Summer Paralympics. Personal li ...

and Germany's Denise Grahl. Halevi also made the finals of the 100 meters freestyle and the 400 meters freestyle, but finished in fifth place on each occasion. She was named to the Israeli team for the

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Halevi, Erel 1991 births Living people Israeli female freestyle swimmers Paralympic swimmers for Israel Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the World Para Swimming European Championships People with autoimmune disease Bar-Ilan University alumni Israeli Navy personnel S7-classified para swimmers 21st-century Israeli sportswomen