Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

Ziv Kalontarov

Ziv Kalontarov
Personal information
NicknameZu
NationalityIsraeli
Born (1997-01-15) 15 January 1997 (age 27)
Rishon LeZion, Israel
Height183 cm (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Weight70 kg (154 lb)[1]
Sport
SportSwimming
Strokes50 m and 100 m freestyle
CoachGary Kalontarov

Ziv Kalontarov (also "Kalontorov", "Kaluntarov", and "Kalntrov"; Hebrew: זיו קלונטרוב; born 15 January 1997) is an Israeli Olympic swimmer and the reigning European Games champion in the 50 m freestyle.[2]

In April 2015, Kalontarov won the International School Sport Federation (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, Azerbaijan, he won a gold medal 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, Israel, to parents Gary and Tatyana.[1][3] He attended Makif Omer High School, and his nickname is "Zu".[1]

Swimming career

When Kalontarov was young, his mother Tatyana trained him, and his father Gary is now his coach.[4][5][6] He trains about 21 hours per week.[4]

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.[7]

Kalontarov won the 2015 International School Sport Federation (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.[4]

At the age of 18, Kalontarov represented Israel at the 2015 European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan.[8][9] He won a gold medal 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.[8][9][10][11] 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.[9][12][13][14][15] He also came in sixth in the 100 m freestyle final.[7] He was selected to carry the Israeli flag at the closing ceremony.[14]

The race result placed him in the top 20 in the world.[8][16] It also qualified Kalontarov to represent Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which he did.[9][12]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Baku 2015 1St European Games – Athletes – Kalontarov Ziv". Baku 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015.
  2. ^ "Men's 50 m freestyle; Final"[usurped], baku2015.com, 27 June 2015
  3. ^ Stan Ramati (September/October 2014) "Israeli Sports", Jewish Sports Review, Volume 9, Number 9, Issue 105, page 21
  4. ^ a b c "Questions put to Selected World Champion Gold Medalists; Kalantarov, Ziv, Omer", Express Magazine, 19 April 2015
  5. ^ וחקלאי, אהרוני (27 June 2015). "שחייה: זיו קלונטרוב אלוף אירופה לנוער ספורט". ynet (in Hebrew).
  6. ^ "ליאוניד קאופמן: "זיו קלונטרוב יכול להגיע לגמר אולימפי" –". וואלה! ספורט (in Hebrew). 29 June 2015.
  7. ^ a b "Swimming – Ziv Kalontarov (Israel)". the-sports.org.
  8. ^ a b c Craig Lord (27 June 2015). "Swimming News: Ziv Kalontarov, The Sprint Star Of David, Dominates The Dash In 22.1 At Baku Finale". swimvortex.com.
  9. ^ a b c d "Israel add gold to medal march in Baku". The Jewish Chronicle. 28 June 2015.
  10. ^ "Men's 50 m freestyle; Final; Results"[usurped], baku2015.com, 27 June 2015
  11. ^ Michael Pavitt (27 June 2015). "Eight-gold Russia complete Baku 2015 European Games swimming competition in style". insidethegames.biz.
  12. ^ a b Viva Sarah Press (29 June 2015). "Israelis win 12 medals at 2015 European Games". ISRAEL21c.
  13. ^ Jared Anderson (27 June 2015). "Israel catching sprint fever with gold, nat'l record from Kalontarov". SwimSwam.
  14. ^ a b "המשחקים האירופיים: מדליית זהב לזיו קלונטרוב ב-50 חופשי". וואלה! ספורט (in Hebrew). 27 June 2015.
  15. ^ "זהב, שיא ישראלי וקריטריון אולימפי לקלונטרוב". One.co.il (in Hebrew). 27 June 2015.
  16. ^ "Swimming World Rankings' Men's 50 m freestyle". swimvortex.com. 30 June 2015.