Guy Marcos Barnea (; born 9 September 1987) is an Israeli swimmer who represented Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and has won three medals at the European Championships. As of March 2016, he held the Israeli records in the long course 50m

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four Swimming (sport), swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disa ...

(24.64), the short course 50m backstroke (23.27), and the long course 100m

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

(51.36).

Early life

Barnea was born and raised in

Omer Omer may refer to: __NOTOC__ * Omer (unit), an ancient unit of measure used in the era of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem * The Counting of the Omer (''sefirat ha'omer''), a 49 day period in the Jewish calendar People * A variant spelling of the g ...

in southern Israel, to Eitan and Rachel Barnea, the oldest of three sons, and his brothers Nir and Or are also swimmers. He began swimming at age six because his parents thought it would help his

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

. For high school he attended Hof Hasharon. He swam for club Hapoel Jerusalem, and was coached by Leonid Kauffman.

College and swimming career

Barnea attended

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

, where he studied Business Administration and was an All-American for the Golden Bears. He was named First-Team

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

All-Academic in both 2009 and 2010. He was a member of Cal's 2010 NCAA champion 200m free (anchor leg), 200m medley (backstroke leg), and 400m medley (backstroke leg) relay teams. At the 2010 NCAA Swimming Championships, he came in third in the 100m backstroke with a time of 46.23. Barnea trained at

The Race Club The Race Club is a swimming club known for training Olympic Games swimmers with its swimming training program that is focused on specific swimming techniques, located in Islamorada, Florida. History The Race Club was founded in 2003 by Gary ...

, a swim camp in Florida founded by Olympic swimmers Gary Hall, Jr. and his father, Gary Hall, Sr. train elite swimmers across the world in preparation for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. To train with it, one must either have been ranked in the world top 20 the prior three years or top three in their nation in the past year. Barnea competed on behalf of Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, China. He came in 15th in the Men's 100m backstroke with a time of 54.50. He won a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke at the 2009 World University Games with a time of 25.09. That year, Barnea set what at the time was the Israeli record in the 50m backstroke, with a time of 24.64. At the

2009 Maccabiah Games The 18th Maccabiah Games (), were held in July 2009. According to the organizing committee these were the largest games held yet. These Games were the world's fifth-largest sporting event, behind the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, World Poli ...

, he won a gold medal in the Men's 100m backstroke with a time of 54.22, setting a new Maccabiah Games record and Israeli record. In 2010, Barnea won the long course

European Aquatics Championships The European Aquatics Championships is the continental Aquatic sports, Aquatics championship for Europe, which is organised by Ligue Européenne de Natation, LEN—the governing body for aquatics in Europe. The Championships are currently held eve ...

bronze medal in the 50m backstroke. He won a silver medal in the 50m backstroke at the 2011 World University Games with a time of 25.21. In 2012, he won the long course European Aquatics Championships bronze medal in the 50m backstroke again, and a

European Short Course Swimming Championships The European Short Course Swimming Championships, variously referred to informally as the "Short Course Europeans" or "European 25m Championships", are a swimming meet, organized by LEN. The meet features swimmers from Europe, competing in event ...

silver medal in the 50m backstroke with an Israeli record time of 23.46. In August 2014 at the Israeli national swimming championships Barnea won a gold medal in the 50m backstroke with a time of 25.12. At the 2015 European Short Course Swimming Championships in December, he set a new national record of 51.36 in the 100m butterfly. As of March 2016, he held the Israeli records in the long course 50 backstroke (24.64), the short course 50 backstroke (23.27), and the long course 100 fly (51.36). In August 2016 he won the gold medal at the Eindhoven Swim Cup (Dutch Championships) in the 100m backstroke, with a time of 55.19. At the 2017 Scottish National Championships, Barnea won the men’s 100m backstroke in a time of 54.49, close to his lifetime personal best of 54.29. At the

2017 Maccabiah Games The 2017 Maccabiah Games (), also referred to as the 20th Maccabiah Games (), were the 20th edition of the Maccabiah Games. They took place from 4 to 17 July 2017, in Israel. The Maccabiah Games are open to Jewish athletes from around the world ...

, in the special 4x50m relay race between Israeli and American all-star teams, American Olympic champions

Lenny Krayzelburg Lenny Krayzelburg (born Leonid Olehovych Krayzelburg, September 28, 1975) is an American former backstroke swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and former world record holder. He swam in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, winning a total of four Olympic g ...

(four Olympic golds),

Jason Lezak Jason Edward Lezak (born November 12, 1975) is an American former competitive swimmer and swimming executive. As a swimmer, Lezak specialized in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle races. His pro career lasted for nearly fifteen years, spanning ...

(four Olympic golds), and Anthony Ervin (three Olympic golds), with masters swimmer Alex Blavatnik, swam a time of 1:48.23 and defeated Israeli Olympians Barnea, Yoav Bruck, Eran Groumi, and

Tal Stricker Tal Stricker (; born May 29, 1979) is a breaststroke swimmer from Israel, who competed for Israel at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Early life Stricker was born in Ramat Gan, Israel, and his parents are Rafi and Nava Stricker. He ...

, who had a time of 1:51.25.">"Records fall as Olympians shine at Maccabiah Games,"
''The Jerusalem Post''.

References

External links

*
Guy Barnea
at

California Golden Bears The California Golden Bears are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Berkeley. Referred to in athletic competition as ''California'' or ''Cal'', the university fields 30 varsity athletic programs and various club te ...

(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnea, Guy 1987 births Living people Jewish Israeli sportspeople Jewish swimmers Olympic swimmers for Israel Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Maccabiah Games medalists in swimming Maccabiah Games gold medalists for Israel Competitors at the 2009 Maccabiah Games Competitors at the 2017 Maccabiah Games European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Israeli male backstroke swimmers Israeli male butterfly swimmers Summer World University Games medalists in swimming FISU World University Games silver medalists for Israel FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Israel Medalists at the 2007 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2009 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2011 Summer Universiade California Golden Bears men's swimmers Israeli expatriate swimmers in the United States 21st-century Israeli sportsmen

Early life

College and swimming career

See also

References

External links