Jonatan Kopelev (or Yehonatan, he, יהונתן קופלב; born 1 October 1991) is an Israeli
swimmer. He competes in 100 m backstroke, 200 m backstroke, and 50 m backstroke. He won a
gold medal in the
50 m backstroke at the
2012 European Aquatics Championships
The 2012 European Aquatics Championships were held from 14 to 27 May 2012 in Debrecen, Hungary and Eindhoven, Netherlands. The 2012 European Swimming Championships were to take place in Antwerp, Belgium, but were reallocated to the City of Debrec ...
.
Early and personal life
Kopelev began swimming at age seven, at the
Maccabi Haifa
Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...
Carmel club.
He and his wife Monada live in
Haifa, Israel.
Swimming career
His club is
Maccabi Haifa
Maccabi Haifa ( he, מכבי חיפה) is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football ...
.
Kopelev competes in 100 m backstroke, 200 m backstroke, and 50 m backstroke.
Kopelev won a
gold medal in the 50 metre backstroke at the
2012 European Aquatics Championships
The 2012 European Aquatics Championships were held from 14 to 27 May 2012 in Debrecen, Hungary and Eindhoven, Netherlands. The 2012 European Swimming Championships were to take place in Antwerp, Belgium, but were reallocated to the City of Debrec ...
in
Debrecen, Hungary.
In doing so he became the first Israeli swimmer to win a gold medal at the European championships.
He qualified for the
2012 Olympics, swimming a 54.38 in the 100 m backstroke in a competition in Slovenia in June 2012, but was unable to compete in the Games due to an
appendectomy.
Kopelev came in eighth in the men’s 50 m backstroke at the
2013 World Aquatics Championships, with a lifetime best of 24.73.
In July 2016 he posted the fastest time in 2016 for the men’s 50 m backstroke with a time of 24.60, also setting a new Israeli record.
In December 2018 Kopelev came in second in the 50 S backstroke in the Israel International Arena Winter Championship with a time of 24.25.
Kopelev competed for
Israel at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships.
See also
*
List of Israeli records in swimming
References
External links
The-sports.orgInstagram page
1991 births
Living people
Israeli male swimmers
Male backstroke swimmers
European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming
Sportspeople from Haifa
Israeli people of Russian-Jewish descent
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