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 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 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 Joh ...

, Poland. At the age of 18 representing Israel at the 2015 European Games in Baku,

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 with a

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 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,

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

, 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 Israel at the 2015 European Games in Baku,

. He won a gold medal with a

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

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