Maccabiah Games sports under way
Swimming (where records fall!), tennis, football (soccer), golf, and squash among sports under way even before official opening ceremony Monday
TEL AVIV - The 17th Maccabiah got under way Sunday with preliminary and opening competitions in several sports including swimming - in which records fell, tennis, football (soccer), golf, and squash, among other disciplines.
The events took place in venues including an apartment complex health club in Tel Aviv, the Wingate Institute swimming pool near Netanya, and the Casearea Golf Club.
The main events included swimming, in which the entire Israeli team partcipated, as well as first-rate swimmers from around the world.
The Israel Swimming Association reported on Israeli sports news website One (Hebrew), that American Brian Goldberg broke the Maccabiah record for the 100-meter freestyle, with a finish of 50.96 seconds (0.34 seconds under Yoav Bruck's eight-year-old record.) Israeli Shai Livnat came second with 52.01, and American three-time Olympic medalist Scott Goldblatt came in third with 52.43 seconds.
American Daniel Medved, 17, broke the 200-meter butterfly record with 2:00.83 (previous record was 2:03.54 minutes). American Max Jaben came in second at 2:04.96, and Israeli Erez Feren came in third at 2:06.06.
Israeli Danit Kama broke the third record for the day when she swam the 200-meter backstroke event in 2:20.28. Israeli Sigal Simsolo came in second at 2:23.17, and American Payton Johnson came in third at 2:23.05.
Squash matches begin
Squash matches began Sunday with juniors tournaments featuring teenage athletes from 10 countries. Among the newcomers to Maccabiah competition were the British junior squash team. Four of its five members, who arrived in Israel last Tuesday, trained at Cheetham Hill Squash Club in Manchester.
"They are really excited," said Peter Broude, father of 14-year-old Mark Broude. "They trained very hard."
According to Broude, the players' parents have been staying at a hotel in Herzliya, away from their children, and the tournament was their first opportunity to see each other since arrival.
The Mexican team arrived in Israel last Thursday. According to 16-year-old David Kababib, the team trained a little in its hotel, but mostly relaxed over the weekend.
One-year stay
Another Mexican team member, 18-year-old Ilan Goldberg, who has been playing squash for four years, said he will stay in Israel after the Maccabiah to do a year of training that includes educational seminars, traveling, and two months of serving in a program of the IDF.
"It's a program for volunteers who want to know and experience the army," Goldberg said.
The squash games will last all week, after which the players will go on a trip in the Galilee.
Players from Israel, the U.S., Canada, Australia, Great Britain, China, Venezuela, Mexico, Poland and Belgium are participating in the junior squash games.
The squash games began with a few children from the country club marching with the teams and their flags. That was followed by a minute of silence in remembrance of the victims of the 15th Maccabiah bridge disaster in 1997.
A new Maccabiah bridge was finished six months ago, and was inagurated in a ceremony Friday. The Australian delegation marched across the bridge during the ceremony along with the families of Greg Small, Yetty Bennett and Warren Zines, three of the four victims who were killed in the 1997 disaster.
"It was very difficult to walk across the bridge again," said 70-year-old Tzvi Levinson. "Zines was a member of my bowling team. We fell together, but I stayed alive."
Another member of the Australian delegation, 60-year-old Frank Ginsler, decided not to march. "I could not find the emotional strength to go up the bridge again," he said.
Sixty-nine members of this year's delegation were also members of the 1997 delegation.
Results of Sunday's matches in all sports will be available at www.maccabiah17.com
