Israeli swimmers make waves at Euros

Anastasia Gorbenko, 18, notched gold in the 200 individual medley, while fellow teenager Ben Shitrit set a personal best in the 400 IM and finished 8th.

After reaching a final at the Tokyo Olympics, Israeli swimmer Anastasia Gorbenko topped the podium over the weekend at the 2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Kazan, Russia. Women's 200m Individual Medley - Heats - Tokyo Aquatics Centre - Tokyo, Japan - July 26, 2021. (photo credit: REUTERS/ALEKSANDRA SZMIGIEL)
After reaching a final at the Tokyo Olympics, Israeli swimmer Anastasia Gorbenko topped the podium over the weekend at the 2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships in Kazan, Russia. Women's 200m Individual Medley - Heats - Tokyo Aquatics Centre - Tokyo, Japan - July 26, 2021.
(photo credit: REUTERS/ALEKSANDRA SZMIGIEL)

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. (credit: Courtesy)
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.