The last two days of the 2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Kazan, Russia, saw two impressive accomplishments for a pair of Israeli teenagers.

On Saturday night, 18-year-old Anastasia Gorbenko grabbed the gold in the 200-meter individual medley, finishing the final race in 2:05.17 minutes, ahead of silver-medalist Maria Ugolkova of Switzerland (2:06.41m) and Viktoriya Zeynep Gunes of Turkey (2:07.67m), who took home bronze.

Israeli swimmer Eitan Ben Shitrit finished 8th overall in the 400m individual medley at the European Championships.
Israeli swimmer Eitan Ben Shitrit finished 8th overall in the 400m individual medley at the European Championships. (credit: Courtesy)

On Sunday morning, meanwhile, Eitan Ben Shitrit – also 18 – qualified for the finals of the 400 individual medley, setting a personal record of 4:14:19m and finishing in eighth place to grab the last spot in the medal race.

Ben Shitrit beat his time in the final, finishing in 4:13.89m, but he still came in eighth place overall.