Jonatan Kopelev (or Yehonatan, he, יהונתן קופלב; born 1 October 1991) is an Israeli
swimmer
Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...
. 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 Debre ...
.
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 Footbal ...
Carmel club. He and his wife Monada live in
Haifa, Israel
Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropoli ...
.
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 Footbal ...
. 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 Debre ...
in
Debrecen, Hungary
Debrecen ( , is Hungary's second-largest city, after Budapest, the regional centre of the Northern Great Plain region and the seat of Hajdú-Bihar County. A city with county rights, it was the largest Hungarian city in the 18th century and it ...
. In doing so he became the first Israeli swimmer to win a gold medal at the European championships. He qualified for the
2012 Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
, 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
An appendectomy, also termed appendicectomy, is a surgical operation in which the vermiform appendix (a portion of the intestine) is removed. Appendectomy is normally performed as an urgent or emergency procedure to treat complicated acute append ...
.
Kopelev came in eighth in the men’s 50 m backstroke at the