By ALLON SINAI
Gal Nevo on Friday became only the sixth Israeli swimmer to claim a medal in the 18-year history of the European Short Course Swimming Championships, finishing third in the 400-meter Individual Medley final in Istanbul, Turkey.
The 22-year-old, who came fifth in the 200-meter I.M. final on Thursday, joined Eitan Urbach (1998) Miki Halika (1999 and 2000), Yoav Gath (2001), Vered Borochovsky (2002) and Anya Gostomelsky (2006) on the prestigious list, with Gath the only Israeli to claim a silver medal rather than a bronze.
"I knew what I was capable of, but I was surprised because I didn't have ideal preparation for the championships," said Nevo who clocked a time of 4:00.55 minutes.
"I felt sharp in the pool and it all happened so quickly. Initially I was disappointed that I didn't finish in second position, but I then told myself that third place is good as well."
Hungarian Laszlo Cseh won the gold medal in a new world record time of 3:57.27m, with his countryman, David Verrasz finishing second in 4:00.10m.
Also Friday, Amit Ivri ended the women's 50m butterfly final in ninth position, touching the wall after 25.79s.
On Saturday, Nevo reached his third final in Turkey, ending the 200m butterfly in seventh place in a time of 1:51.84m.
Miki Malul missed out on a medal in the 50m breaststroke final by 25 hundredths of a second on Saturday, finishing sixth after completing the course in 26.46s.
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