Ziv Better ( he, זיו בטר) is an Israeli swimmer. Better was born in

Kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

Lehavot HaBashan Lehavot HaBashan ( he, לְהֲבוֹת הַבָּשָׁן, ''lit.'' Flames of the Bashan) is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the Hula Valley around ten kilometres southeast of Kiryat Shmona, it falls under the jurisdiction of Upper Gali ...

. During his military service with the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; he, צְבָא הַהֲגָנָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the Israel, State of Israel. It consists of three servic ...

(IDF] he served as an officer in

Golani Brigade The 1st "Golani" Brigade ( he, חֲטִיבַת גּוֹלָנִי) is an Israeli military infantry brigade that is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. It is one of the five infantry brigade ...

. Better was injured by a mine while attempting to rescue one of his soldiers, Doron Shaziri, while fighting in the Lebanon War. As a result of his injury he was blinded in his left eye and lost approximately 90% of his vision in his right eye. Shortly thereafter, he started swimming and soon reached a competitive level. By 2004, Better had participated in eight European championships, fout world championships and four

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

. At the

1992 Summer Paralympics )( es, Deporte Sin Límites) , nations = 82 (BCN)75 (MAD) , athletes = 3,020 (BCN)1,600 (MAD) , opened_by = Queen Sofía , opening = 3 September (BCN)15 September (MAD) , closing = 14 September (BCN)22 September (MAD) , even ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, he won two silver medals and two bronze medals, and in the

1996 Summer Paralympics The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympic Games, Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million. It was the first Paralympic Games ...

, he won three bronze medals. He has competed five Summer Paralympics from 1992 to 2008. Better works as a Systems Analyst, and is married and a father of three.

References

External links

* Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Israeli male swimmers Paralympic swimmers of Israel Paralympic silver medalists for Israel Paralympic bronze medalists for Israel Swimmers at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 1996 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in swimming S12-classified Paralympic swimmers {{Israel-sport-stub