Israel still without finalist going into meet's last day

Barnea comes close ahead of eigth and last day of Roma09.

By ALLON SINAI
guy barnea 248 (photo credit: BASWIM)
guy barnea 248
(photo credit: BASWIM)
Guy Barnea came tantalizing close to reaching the final of the 50 meters backstroke on Saturday, finishing the competition in 12th position in a time of 24.81 seconds, just four hundredths of a second away from a place in the top eight, and a spot in Sunday's final. Barnea, who clocked 24.79s in the morning heats to reach the semis, entered the competition with the second best time in the world this year, but he failed to repeat his personal best of 24.64s, a time which would have put him through to the final from sixth position. Barnea's relative failure means the Israel team is still waiting for its finalist of these World Championships entering into the eighth and final day of the competition. Gal Nevo, who has been the team's best swimmer in Rome, will compete in the 400m Individual Medley heats on Sunday, hoping to improve on his 11th place finish at the Beijing Olympics and advance to the evening's final. Israel's 4x100 Medley relay men's team will also compete on Sunday, looking to improve its Israeli record. On Saturday, Israel's 4x100 Medley relay women's team broke the Israeli by some five seconds, with Anna Volchkov, Yuliya Banach, Amit Ivry and Kristina Tchernychev clocking a time of 4:09.49 minutes to finish in 20th position. Banach also set an Israeli record in the 50m breaststroke on Saturday, finishing the event in 37th position in a time of 31.98s. Doaa Masarwa touched the wall after 32.46s to end the competition in 43rd place. Also Saturday, Nadav Kochavi clocked a time of 25.94s to finish the 50m backstroke in 37th position. On Friday, Alon Mandel set a new Israeli record in the 100m butterfly, finishing the heats in 44th place in a time of 52.68s. Nadav Kochavi ended the event in 71st place (54.20s). Anna Volchkov set the second best time ever by an Israeli woman in the 200m backstroke, touching the wall after 2:15.61m (28th). Also Friday, Nimrod Shapria Bar-Or set a personal best in the 50m freestyle (22.90s) to finish in 49th position, with Amit Ivry (26.59s) and Kristina Tchernychev (27.88s) ending the 50m butterfly in 23rd and 52nd place, respectively.