Ziv Kalontarov (also "Kalontorov", "Kaluntarov", and "Kalntrov"; ; born 15 January 1997) is an Israeli Olympic swimmer and the reigning

European Games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic tradition contested by athletes from countries served by national Olympic committees within the European Olympic Committees (EOC), the regional association for such committ ...

champion in the 50 m freestyle. In April 2015, Kalontarov won the

International School Sport Federation The International School Sport Federation (ISF) is an international sports governing body for school sport. Founded in 1972 with 21 European signatory nations, the federation has been organising international competitions to encourage education t ...

(ISF) Swimming World Schools Championship in both the 50 m freestyle (in 22.39) and the 100 m freestyle (in 50.49) in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

, Poland. At the age of 18 representing Israel at the 2015 European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, he won a

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...

with a

record time of 22.16 in the 50 m freestyle and thereby won the

European Junior Swimming Championships The European Junior Swimming Championships (50 m) is an annual swimming competition for European swimmers organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation and held over five days.

, on 27 June 2015. His time in the final established a new senior Israeli national swimming record in the 50 m freestyle. It qualified him to represent Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Biography

Kalontarov was born in

Rishon LeZion Rishon LeZion ( , "First to Zion") is a city in Israel, located along the central Israeli coastal plain south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area. Founded in 1882 by Jewish immigrants from the Russian Empire who were ...

, Israel, to parents Gary and Tatyana. He attended Makif Omer High School, and his nickname is "Zu".

Swimming career

When Kalontarov was young, his mother Tatyana trained him, and his father Gary is now his coach."Questions put to Selected World Champion Gold Medalists; Kalantarov, Ziv, Omer"
''Express Magazine'', 19 April 2015 He trains about 21 hours per week. In July 2014, he came in sixth in the European Junior Championships Men's 50 m freestyle, and 8th in the Men's 100 m freestyle. Kalontarov won the 2015

(ISF) Swimming World Schools Championship in both the 50 m freestyle (in 22.39) and the 100 m freestyle (in 50.49) in

, Poland, on 19 April 2015. At the age of 18, Kalontarov represented Israel at the 2015 European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan. He won a

with a

record time of 22.16 in the 50 m freestyle and thereby won the

, on 27 June 2015, after also having the fastest times in both the heat and semi-final of the event. His time in the final established a new senior Israeli national swimming record in the 50 m freestyle, breaking the old record of 22.54 that he himself had set two months earlier, as well as a new personal record for Kalontarov and .16 of a second off the youth world record. He also came in sixth in the 100 m freestyle final. He was selected to carry the

Israeli flag The flag of the State of Israel ( ; ) was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. It consists of a white background with a blue Star of David in the centre and two horizontal blue stripes at the ...

at the closing ceremony. The race result placed him in the top 20 in the world. It also qualified Kalontarov to represent Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which he did.

References

External links

* * * * * *
"Israel's Kalontarov wins Men's 50m Freestyle Swimming Baku 2015 European Games"
(video), Baku 2015 European Games, 27 June 2015 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalontarov, Ziv 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Rishon LeZion Israeli male freestyle swimmers European Games gold medalists for Israel European Games medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2015 European Games Olympic swimmers for Israel Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics 21st-century Israeli sportsmen

Biography

Swimming career

See also

References

External links