Barnea latest Israeli to barely be denied trip to podium
Guy Barnea came within five-hundredths of a second of winning a medal at the European Swimming Championships.
By ALLON SINAIGuy Barnea came up just short in his attempt to win a medal in the 50-meter backstroke at the European Swimming Championships in Berlin yesterday.(photo credit: REUTERS)
Guy Barnea came within five-hundredths of a second of winning a medal at the European Swimming Championships in Berlin on Thursday, finishing the 50-meter backstroke final in fifth place.Barnea, who claimed a bronze medal in the 50m back in the 2010 and 2012 editions of the Europeans, clocked a time of 25.05 seconds, six-hundredths of a second slower than his time in the semifinals and heats in Berlin (24.99s), which would have been good enough to scale the podium on Thursday.Vladimir Morozov of Russia won the gold medal in a time of 24.64s.After amassing five medals at the Europeans two years ago, including a historic gold in the 50m back courtesy of Jonatan Kopelev, the Israeli delegation has yet to reach the podium in Berlin four days into the seven-day championships.Amit Ivri is still searching for her first appearance in a final in Berlin after ending the 100m butterfly in ninth place overall on Thursday, 11-hundredths of a second from a place in the final.Ivri, which clocked a time of 58.70s in Thursday’s semifinal, has come tantalizingly close to reaching four finals in Berlin, only to come up just short time and again.Ivri, which won a bronze medal in the 100m fly two years ago, missed out on a place in the 100m breaststroke final by five-hundredths of a second, came within eight-hundredths of a place in the 50m butterfly final and was 1.07 seconds away from a place in the top eight in the 200m individual medley on Wednesday.
