Erel Halevi (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: אראל הלוי, born 13 January 1991) is an Israeli swimmer, who competes for her nation internationally. As well as taking part in the

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

and

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

, she has also won two bronze medals at the

IPC Swimming European Championships The World Para Swimming European Championships (World Para Swimming European Open Championships), known until 2018 as the IPC Swimming European Championships, are the European continental championships for swimming where athletes with a disabilit ...

Career

Erel Halevi was born on 13 January 1991. At the age of 11, she became reliant on a

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

due to an

autoimmune disease An autoimmune disease is a condition arising from an abnormal immune response to a functioning body part. At least 80 types of autoimmune diseases have been identified, with some evidence suggesting that there may be more than 100 types. Nearly a ...

, learning to walk on crutches after some time. Halevi underwent rehabilitation at Sheba Medical Center for several years, but saw no further improvement in her condition. She remained positive, as she had already seen progress in moving from the wheelchair to crutches. Although given the option not to serve due to her medical condition, Halevi volunteered for the

Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...

as she felt that serving 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 ...

formed a part of a normal life for people from her country. She learned to swim through the Israeli Foundation for Handicapped Children (ILAN), where she was spotted by coach Yaakov Banison. He pushed her, as he saw the potential for Halevi to go to the

Summer Paralympics The Summer Paralympics also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral ...

. She made the ILAN team, and then the national team. Her first major event was the

2009 IPC Swimming European Championships The 2009 IPC Swimming European Championships was an international swimming competition. It was held in Reykjavik, Iceland and ran from 18 to 24 October. Around 650 athletes from 37 different countries attended. Great Britain finished top of the m ...

, where she won a bronze medal in the women's 50 meter freestyle in the S7 disability classification. At the

2011 IPC Swimming European Championships The 2011 IPC Swimming European Championships was an international swimming competition. It was held in Berlin, Germany from 3 to 10 July. There were 440 swimmers from 36 European countries that took part, Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україн� ...

, she finished fourth in the 400 meters freestyle. Prior to the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Summer Paralympic Gam ...

, Halevi took part in the Berlin Swimming Open, where she won a gold medal in the 400 meters freestyle. At the Paralympics, she finished 12th overall in the 50 meters freestyle among her other events. Halevi won a further bronze medal in the 50 meter freestyle at the

2016 IPC Swimming European Championships The 2016 IPC Swimming European Championships was an international swimming competition. It was held in Funchal, Madeira running from 30 April to 7 May. Around 450 athletes from 50 different countries attended the competition. This was the last ma ...

Funchal Funchal () is the largest city, the municipal seat and the capital of Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it the sixth largest city in Portugal. Because of ...

Madeira ) , anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira") , song_type = Regional anthem , image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg , map_alt=Location of Madeira , map_caption=Location of Madeira , subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...

. She finished behind the UK's Susie Rodgers and Germany's

Denise Grahl Denise Grahl (born 4 May 1993) is a German Paralympic swimming, Paralympic swimmer. Career She represented Germany at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, Germany at the 2016 Summer Paralympics and won a silver medal in the Swimming at the 2016 Summer ...

. Halevi also made the finals of the 100 meters freestyle and the 400 meters freestyle, but finished in fifth place on each occasion. She was named to the

Israeli 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 ...

team for the

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Halevi, Erel 1991 births Living people Israeli female freestyle swimmers Paralympic swimmers for Israel Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the World Para Swimming European Championships People with autoimmune disease Bar-Ilan University alumni Israeli Navy personnel S7-classified para swimmers