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

European Games The European Games is a continental multi-sport event in the Olympic Games, Olympic tradition contested by sportsperson, athletes from European nations and several European Olympic Committees#Notes, transcontinental countries. The Games were ...

champion in the 50 m freestyle. 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 ...

(ISF) Swimming World Schools Championship in both the 50 m freestyle (in 22.39) and the 100 m freestyle (in 50.49) in

Poznań Poznań () is a city on the River Warta in west-central Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business centre, and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John ...

, Poland. At the age of 18 representing

Israel at the 2015 European Games Israel competed at the 2015 European Games, in Baku, Azerbaijan from 12 to 28 June 2015. The 2015 European Games represents Israel's largest ever delegation to a sports competition. Prior to the start of the event Israel planned to send 141 ath ...

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 Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

, 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

record time of 22.16 in the 50 m freestyle and thereby won the

European Junior Swimming Championships The European Junior Swimming Championships (50 m) is an annual swimming competition for European swimmers organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation and held over five days.

, 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 Israel competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. It was the nation's sixteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics. The Olympic Committee of Israel confirmed a team of 47 athletes, 22 men and 25 wom ...

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 Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, 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 freestyle, 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

, Poland, on 19 April 2015. At the age of 18, Kalontarov represented

. He won a

with a

record time of 22.16 in the 50 m freestyle and thereby won the

, 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 The flag of Israel ( he, דגל ישראל '; ar, علم إسرائيل ') was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the establishment of the State of Israel. It depicts a blue hexagram on a white background, between two horizontal b ...

at the closing ceremony. The race result placed him in the top 20 in the world. It also qualified Kalontarov to represent

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