Toumarkin misses out on backstroke final

Yakov Toumarkin saw his hopes of reaching the final in the 200m backstroke event ruthlessly ended in the hours of Thursday morning.

The 24-year-old became the first Israeli swimmer to reach a semi-final, having qualified from the heats to the semi-final by three hundredths of a second.

However, taking part in the first semi-final, he finished the heat last in a time of 1.57.58.

He said: “I swam as good as I wanted but I expected more. I came in pretty good shape, but sometimes it’s not enough to be good just in training, it also needs to be in competition.

“I want to thank everyone who has encouraged me, it warms my heart.
It’s not easy to summise the past year and all the work of the pasy four years [leading up to this].

“This is not where I wanted to finish my second Olympics. I wish I could try again, next week, another month, another year, but that’s part of it and I need to wait four years for the next opportunity.

“I’m now taking a break, but will soon be back doing what I love and will continue to represent my country with honour, in European and World Championships, and will continue to aim as high as I can.

“A huge thank you to all who have supported me in my Olympic Journey., without you it wouldn’t be possible.”

Elsewhere,Gal Nevo came within three split seconds of qualifying for the  200m individual medley. Claiming the 17th fastest heat time, he finished in a time of 1.59.80, with the 16th fastest, New Zealander Bradley Ashby claiming a time of 1.59.77.

Andrea Murez failed to the reach the semi-finals of the 100m freestyle.Finishing the third heat in sixth place in a time of 55.47, she missed on qualifying for the semi-finals by 2.69.

She still has one more race to look forward, having already finished last in the Israeli 4x100m freestyle team 50m freestyle, while illness prevented her from taking part in the 200m freestyle heats.

Amit Ivry’s Games are over after she finished 28th out of 29 places in the 200m breaststroke heats. Recording a time of 2.31.49, eight seconds short of the top 16 qualifiers.

FOLLOW THE PROGRESS OF ALL THE ISRAELI AND JEWISH ATHLETES IN RIO HERE: