Yakov Yan Toumarkin ( he, יעקב יאן טומרקין, russian: Ян Я́ков Тума́ркин; born 15 February 1992) is a Russian-born
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 ...
swimmer
Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...
. In 2010, he was the European Junior Swimming Champion in the 100-meter backstroke.
Swimming career
In July 2010, Toumarkin 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 be ...
bronze medal
A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receiv ...
Israel at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics
Israel competed at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of th ...
, he won the
silver medal
A silver medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, et ...
in the Boys' 100-meter backstroke, finishing a tenth of a second behind the gold medalist at 55.28 seconds. Toumarkin also won a silver medal in the Boys' 200 meter backstroke, at 1:59.39. It was the third-best-time ever for an Israeli, after times of Guy Barnea and Yoav Gat, and an Israeli youth record.
In November 2010, Toumarkin set the Israeli short course (25 m) record in the 200 meter backstroke (1:53.46) at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in
Shanghai
Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...
, China, he set a new Israeli long course (50 m) swimming record (1:58.21 minutes). Toumarkin said: "I managed to put all of the pressure out of my mind, and just pretended I was competing in a club competition in Israel."
He thereby qualified to represent
Israel at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Israel competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's fifteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics.
The Olympic Committee of Israel sent 37 athletes to the Games, 19 men and 18 women, to compe ...
in London. Toumarkin competed for Israel at the 2012 Olympics in the Men's 200 m backstroke and Men's 100 m backstroke.
In August 2015, he set the Israeli national record in the 200m backstroke with a time 1:55.96 minutes while winning the gold medal, and won a gold medal in the 100m backstroke with a time of 53.96 seconds. At the
2015 European Short Course Swimming Championships
The 2015 European Short Course Swimming Championships (25 m) took place in Netanya, Israel, from 2–6 December 2015. They were originally scheduled to be held in January 2015, but the LEN moved the event to December. The venue of the event was the ...
List of Israeli records in swimming
This is a list of Israeli records in swimming, which are ratified by the Israel Swimming Association. To set a record, you have to be an Israeli citizen. All records were achieved in finals unless otherwise noted.
Long course (50 m) Men
...