Swimming: Israelis follow record-setting trend in the pool

By ALLON SINAI
Six more world records were set Sunday at the European short-course swimming championships, bringing the total to 16 at the four-day event. Amaury Leveaux set his fourth world record in Rijeka, Croatia, and fifth in nine days by winning a heat of the men's 50-meter butterfly in 22.18 seconds. The 23-year-old Frenchman later won the race for his fourth gold medal at the meet. Leveaux was also part of the French team that set a record in the 4x50 freestyle relay, first in 1:22.38 in a heat, and later in 1:20.77 in the final. Earlier at the championships, Leveaux broke the record in the 50 free and twice in the 100 free. Israeli swimmers ended their competition on Saturday and despite the fact that only one of the country's seven Olympians traveled to Croatia, the delegation put on an impressive performance in the event. Miki Malul missed out on a medal by just one hundredth of a second on Saturday, clocking a new Israeli record time of 26.67 seconds in the 50-meter breaststroke final to finish in fourth position. Amit Ivri finished the women's 50m butterfly final in sixth position on Friday, with a new personal best time of 26.00s. On Saturday, Ivri ended the 100m butterfly competition in 11th position. Guy Barnea, who finished the 200m backstroke in eighth place on Thursday, just missed out on the finals of both the 50m and 100m backstroke contests, ending both events in ninth position. Overall, Israel's six representatives set nine national records in Croatia.