Finishes 50 meter backstroke in 27.50 seconds, only fractions of a second away from German winner Janine Pietsch.
By ALLON SINAIGostomelsky 88(photo credit: )
Anya Gostomelsky won her first major international medal on Saturday night after finishing third in the 50 meter backstroke at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in Finland.
Gostomelsky finished the 50 meters in a time of 27.50 seconds and was only fractions of a second away from German winner Janine Pietsch who clocked a time of 27.32 seconds.
"I really hoped to win a medal here," Gostomelsky said. "This is my first medal at the European Short Course Championships and it's about time I won something."
The bronze medal capped a fantastic weekend for the 25-year-old Israeli who finished fifth at the 100m backstroke and seventh at the 50m butterfly on Friday night.
Miki Malul was only two hundredth of a second away from repeating Gostomelsky's success when he finished fourth in the 50m breaststroke final on Saturday night. Malul set an Israeli record of 27.25 seconds in the final, but was edged out by Brit Darren Mew who took the bronze after finishing the race fractions quicker than the Israeli.
