Israel grabs rowing World Cup bronze medal

The Israeli Paralymic rowing team won the bronze medal in the World Cup event

By JERUSALEM POST SPORTS STAFF
The memberS of Israel’s Paralympic mixed coxed four rowing team (from left) Barak Hazor, Leah Sass, Achiya Klein, Simona Goren and Shay-Lee Mizrahi pose with their medals after finishing in third place at the World Cup event in Poznan. (photo credit: DETLEV SAYEV)
The memberS of Israel’s Paralympic mixed coxed four rowing team (from left) Barak Hazor, Leah Sass, Achiya Klein, Simona Goren and Shay-Lee Mizrahi pose with their medals after finishing in third place at the World Cup event in Poznan.
(photo credit: DETLEV SAYEV)
Israel’s Paralympic mixed coxed four rowing team registered an impressive achievement by claiming a bronze medal in the World Cup event on Saturday in Poznan, Poland.
Shay-Lee Mizrahi, Barak Hazor, Achiya Klein and Simona Goren, rowed for the team, which is coxed by Leah Sass. They completed the 2,000-meter course in 7:30.23 minutes, with Ukraine finishing in first and France in second.
The team trains alternately in Gavirate, Italy, and at the Daniel Rowing Center in Tel Aviv.
Some of the crew members are relatively new to the sport. Achiya Klein only began training at the Daniel Rowing Center two years ago. The IDF Lieutenant was blinded in 2013, in an operation against Hamas terror tunnels at the Gaza border, near Kibbutz Ein HaShlosha.
“This was the first major race for this crew at the current structure,” said Goren. “There’s plenty to work on, buy the sync and power distribution in the boat were good. We gave 100 percent, registering our top performance yet, and we’re looking forward to the World Championships in September in Florida. There’s a long way to go in improving technique and time – it’ll be the most important event of the year.”
Dima Margolin, who coaches the Paralympic squad at the Daniel Rowing Center, said: “Conditions were dire – winds, rain, cold – but that’s the sport, and we need to be ready to fight in any situation. We raced the French and Ukraine teams last month in Italy, knew they were stronger, but proved we’re closing the gap. Teamwork is improving, we’re aspiring for the Tokyo 2020 games, and much work is still required.”
Moran Samuel, a medalist at the Rio Paralympics, had to cancel her participation in Pozna n as she is undergoing rehab on an elbow injury.
She is hoping to back to full fitness for the World Championships at the end of September in Sarasota, Florida.