Swimming: Nevo reaches 200-m semis, breaks Israeli record

The 21-year-old set himself apart from the other swimmers, winning his heat and finishing 12th overall.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
gal nevo 88 (photo credit: Courtesy)
gal nevo 88
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Olympic swimmer Gal Nevo improved his previous Israeli record by an astounding three seconds on Wednesday, swimming his 200-meter freestyle heat in 1:59:66 minutes. The 21-year-old set himself apart from the other swimmers, winning his heat and finishing 12th overall. Nevo is currently the highest ranked Israeli swimmer at Beijing and he previously finished in 11th place in the 400-meters freestyle. Wednesday's achievement makes Nevo the third Israeli swimmer to qualify for the Olympic semi-finals. Other Israeli swimmers did not fare as well in the Olympic pool in Beijing on Wednesday. Anya Gostomelsky finished her 100-meter freestyle heat in 55:18 seconds, only two hundreds of a second short of the Israeli national record. Overall, Gostomelsky finished 22nd in the 100-meter freestyle event. Gostomelsky was followed by Itai Chama who equated his 200-meter backstroke record of 2:00:93. However, Chama did not make the semi-finals and was ranked 26th overall.