Ziv Kalontarov (also "Kalontorov", "Kaluntarov", and "Kalntrov"; he, זיו קלונטרוב; born 15 January 1997) is an Israeli Olympic swimmer and the reigning European Games champion in the 50 m

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

. In April 2015, Kalontarov won the

International School Sport Federation The International School Sport Federation (ISF) is an international sports governing body for school sport. Founded in 1972 with 21 European signatory nations, the federation has been organising international competitions to encourage education t ...

(ISF) Swimming World Schools Championship in both the 50 m freestyle (in 22.39) and the 100 m freestyle (in 50.49) in Poznań, Poland. At the age of 18 representing Israel at the 2015 European Games in

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world a ...

, Azerbaijan, he won a

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 bee ...

with a European Games record time of 22.16 in the 50 m freestyle and thereby won the European Junior Swimming Championships, on 27 June 2015. His time in the final established a new senior Israeli national swimming record in the 50 m freestyle. It qualified him to represent Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Biography

Kalontarov was born in

Rishon LeZion Rishon LeZion ( he, רִאשׁוֹן לְצִיּוֹן , ''lit.'' First to Zion, Arabic: راشون لتسيون) is a city in Israel, located along the central Israeli coastal plain south of Tel Aviv. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan ar ...

, Israel, to parents Gary and Tatyana. He attended Makif Omer High School, and his nickname is "Zu".

Swimming career

When Kalontarov was young, his mother Tatyana trained him, and his father Gary is now his coach."Questions put to Selected World Champion Gold Medalists; Kalantarov, Ziv, Omer"
''Express Magazine'', 19 April 2015 He trains about 21 hours per week. In July 2014, he came in sixth in the European Junior Championships Men's 50 m

, and 8th in the Men's 100 m freestyle. Kalontarov won the 2015

(ISF) Swimming World Schools Championship in both the 50 m freestyle (in 22.39) and the 100 m freestyle (in 50.49) in Poznań, Poland, on 19 April 2015. At the age of 18, Kalontarov represented Israel at the 2015 European Games in

, Azerbaijan. He won a

with a European Games record time of 22.16 in the 50 m freestyle and thereby won the European Junior Swimming Championships, on 27 June 2015, after also having the fastest times in both the heat and semi-final of the event. His time in the final established a new senior Israeli national swimming record in the 50 m freestyle, breaking the old record of 22.54 that he himself had set two months earlier, as well as a new personal record for Kalontarov and .16 of a second off the youth world record. He also came in sixth in the 100 m freestyle final. He was selected to carry the Israeli flag at the closing ceremony. The race result placed him in the top 20 in the world. It also qualified Kalontarov to represent Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which he did.

References

External links

* *
"Israel's Kalontarov wins Men's 50m Freestyle Swimming Baku 2015 European Games"
(video), Baku 2015 European Games, 27 June 2015 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalontarov, Ziv 1997 births Living people Sportspeople from Rishon LeZion Israeli male freestyle swimmers European Games gold medalists for Israel European Games medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2015 European Games Olympic swimmers of Israel Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Biography

Swimming career

See also

References

External links