Keren Or Leibovitch () (also Keren Or Leybovitch; born July 25, 1973) is an Israeli Paralympic swimmer. Leibovitch is a three-time world champion, a five-time European champion, a holder of three world records (for the 100-meter and 200-meter

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 ...

and the 100-meter

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott Laboritories Media * '' FreeStyle'', ...

), and a seven-time Paralympic medal winner.

Early life and injury

Leibovitch, who is Jewish, was born in Hod HaSharon in Israel. She first swam at the age of two. She studied philosophy at

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) is a Public university, public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Located in northwest Tel Aviv, the university is the center of teaching and ...

. Her back was badly injured and she was disabled at the age of 18, in 1992, from an accident during her service 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 ...

, while training to be an officer. Leibovitch is paralyzed from the waist down. After two major operations, she still had permanent back and leg injuries. She began swimming as part of her rehabilitation.

Swimming career

She won three

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 ...

s at the European Championships in Germany in 1999. Leibovitch won three

s in swimming at the 2000 Paralympic Games in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia, winning the 100-meter backstroke, 100-meter freestyle, and 50-meter freestyle events. She broke three world records along the way. Asked whom she views as her hero, she responded:

I look up to people who achieve what they set their minds to. I admire people who live at peace with themselves ... who are not afraid of what society might say ... who think to make themselves really happy. If people can relate to a disabled person as a winner, then the whole attitude towards disabled persons might change. And if I achieve that, that's my fourth medal.

She was given the honor of lighting the torch at the

2001 Maccabiah Games The 16th Maccabiah Games (), the Opening Ceremony was held in Jerusalem at Teddy Stadium, while the re-building process of the Maccabiah bridge collapse, collapsed bridge and investigations into the collapse continued. The 16th Maccabiah attracted ...

Teddy Stadium Teddy Stadium () is a sports stadium in Jerusalem. Two major Israeli football clubs currently use it as their home ground: Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Jerusalem. The Israel national football team also uses it for select home matches. The stadi ...

in Jerusalem. She set a world record in 2002 in the 100-meter women’s freestyle, with a time of 1:08.90. She won three gold medals in the Israeli Swimming Championships for the Handicapped in 2003, and, set a world record for the 50-meter backstroke (37.78 seconds), also earning gold medals in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle events. She set a world record for handicapped swimmers in the 200-meter backstroke of 258.55 in June 2004 at the

Wingate Institute Wingate Institute (), officially Orde Wingate Institute for Physical Education and Sports (), is a sports training institute located south of Netanya, Israel. History Wingate Institute was established in 1957. It was named after Orde Wingate. ...

. By 2004, she was also the world record holder in the 100-meter freestyle. In September 2004 she won a gold medal in the women's 100-meter backstroke (1:19.55) at the

2004 Paralympic Games The 2004 Summer Paralympics (), the 12th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Athens, Greece, from 17 to 28 September 2 ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. She also won two silver medals (swimming a 1.09.86 in the 100-meter freestyle, 19 seconds behind Paralympic-record-setting American

Jessica Long Jessica Tatiana Long (born February 29, 1992) is a Russian-born American Paralympic swimmer from Baltimore, Maryland, who competes in the S8_(classification), S8, SB7 and SM8 category events. She has held many world records and competed at six ...

, who broke her own Paralympic record, and the 50-meter freestyle) and a bronze medal (in the 200-meter individual medley). The world record holder in the event, she finished in 1:19.55, nearly five seconds faster than second place Dóra Pásztory of Hungary. The Games hosted competing athletes from 136 countries. In 2005, she was voted the 46th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website ''

Ynet Ynet (stylized in all lowercase) is an Israeli news and general-content website, and the online outlet for the '' Yedioth Ahronoth'' newspaper. History Ynet launched on June 6, 2000, in Hebrew, following other Hebrew outlet's website launches ...

'' to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis. At the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing, a year after giving birth to her first child, she narrowly missed winning her eighth Paralympic medal, coming in fourth in the 100-meter backstroke.

References

External links

* *
Keren Leibovitch
on BestSports.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Leibovitch, Keren Paralympic swimmers for Israel Living people Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics World record holders in paralympic swimming 1973 births Israeli female swimmers Paralympic gold medalists for Israel Paralympic silver medalists for Israel Paralympic bronze medalists for Israel People from Hod HaSharon Sportspeople from Central District (Israel) Jewish Israeli sportspeople Jewish swimmers Sportspeople from Ra'anana Medalists at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in swimming S8-classified para swimmers

Early life and injury

Swimming career

See also

References

External links