Ziv Kalontarov

Ziv Kalontarov (also "Kalontorov", "Kaluntarov", and "Kalntrov"; Hebrew: זיו קלונטרוב‎; born 15 January 1997) is an Israeli Olympic swimmer and the reigning European Games champion in the 50 m freestyle.[2]

Ziv Kalontarov
Personal information
Nickname(s)Zu
NationalityIsraeli
Born (1997-01-15) 15 January 1997
Rishon LeZion, Israel
Height183 cm (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Weight70 kg (154 lb)[1]
Sport
SportSwimming
Strokes50 m and 100 m freestyle
CoachGary Kalontarov
Medal record
Swimming
Representing  Israel
European Games
2015 Baku 50 m freestyle

In April 2015, Kalontarov won the International School Sport Federation (ISF) Swimming World Schools Championship in both the 50 m freestyle (in 22.39) and the 100 m freestyle (in 50.49) in Poznań, Poland. At the age of 18 representing Israel at the 2015 European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, he won a gold medal with a European Games record time of 22.16 in the 50 m freestyle and thereby won the European Junior Swimming Championships, on 27 June 2015. His time in the final established a new senior Israeli national swimming record in the 50 m freestyle. It qualified him to represent Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Biography

Ziv Kalontarov was born in Rishon LeZion, Israel, and is Jewish.[1][3] He attended Makif Omer High School, and his nickname is "Zu".[1]

Swimming career

When Kalontarov was young, his mother trained him, and his father Gary is now his coach.[4][5][6] He trains about 21 hours per week.[4]

In July 2014, he came in sixth in the European Junior Championships Men's 50 m freestyle, and 8th in the Men's 100 m freestyle.[7]

Kalontarov won the 2015 International School Sport Federation (ISF) Swimming World Schools Championship in both the 50 m freestyle (in 22.39) and the 100 m freestyle (in 50.49) in Poznań, Poland, on 19 April 2015.[4]

At the age of 18, Kalontarov represented Israel at the 2015 European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan.[8][9] He won a gold medal with a European Games record time of 22.16 in the 50 m freestyle and thereby won the European Junior Swimming Championships, on 27 June 2015, after also having the fastest times in both the heat and semi-final of the event.[8][9][10][11] His time in the final established a new senior Israeli national swimming record in the 50 m freestyle, breaking the old record of 22.54 that he himself had set two months earlier, as well as a new personal record for Kalontarov and .16 of a second off the youth world record.[9][12][13][14][15] He also came in sixth in the 100 m freestyle final.[7] He was selected to carry the Israeli flag at the closing ceremony.[14]

The race result placed him in the top 20 in the world.[8][16] It also qualified Kalontarov to represent Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which he did.[9][12]

See also

References
  1. "Baku 2015 1St European Games – Athletes – Kalontarov Ziv". Baku 2015.
  2. "Men's 50 m freestyle; Final", baku2015.com, 27 June 2015
  3. Stan Ramati (September/October 2014) "Israeli Sports", Jewish Sports Review, Volume 9, Number 9, Issue 105, page 21
  4. "Questions put to Selected World Champion Gold Medalists; Kalantarov, Ziv, Omer", Express Magazine, 19 April 2015
  5. "שחייה: זיו קלונטרוב אלוף אירופה לנוער ספורט". ynet (in Hebrew). 27 June 2015.
  6. "ליאוניד קאופמן: "זיו קלונטרוב יכול להגיע לגמר אולימפי" –". וואלה! ספורט (in Hebrew). 29 June 2015.
  7. "Swimming – Ziv Kalontarov (Israel)". the-sports.org.
  8. Craig Lord (27 June 2015). "Swimming News: Ziv Kalontarov, The Sprint Star Of David, Dominates The Dash In 22.1 At Baku Finale". swimvortex.com.
  9. "Israel add gold to medal march in Baku". The Jewish Chronicle. 28 June 2015.
  10. "Men's 50 m freestyle; Final; Results", baku2015.com, 27 June 2015
  11. Michael Pavitt (27 June 2015). "Eight-gold Russia complete Baku 2015 European Games swimming competition in style". insidethegames.biz.
  12. Viva Sarah Press (29 June 2015). "Israelis win 12 medals at 2015 European Games". ISRAEL21c.
  13. Jared Anderson (27 June 2015). "Israel catching sprint fever with gold, nat'l record from Kalontarov". SwimSwam.
  14. "המשחקים האירופיים: מדליית זהב לזיו קלונטרוב ב-50 חופשי". וואלה! ספורט (in Hebrew). 27 June 2015.
  15. "זהב, שיא ישראלי וקריטריון אולימפי לקלונטרוב". One.co.il (in Hebrew). 27 June 2015.
  16. "Swimming World Rankings' Men's 50 m freestyle". swimvortex.com. 30 June 2015.
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