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Israeli team in Dubai
Photo: AFP

Israeli swim team snubbed in Dubai

World Swimming Championship organizers fail to mention Jewish state's name during otherwise impressive opening ceremony in Arab emirate

The Israeli swim team found itself snubbed on Tuesday during the opening ceremony of the FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) in Dubai. As the competition organizers announced each participating nation while the teams marched into the arena, they failed to call the Jewish state by its name, curtly dubbing it 'ISR.'

 

Over 800 athletes from 148 countries are participating in the competition, which is taking place at the Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Sports Complex. The state of the art facility was built especially for the event, costing $100 million.

 

Save for the ISR mishap, the opening ceremony was an impressive production which included an audio-visual show and musicians hovering in midair.

 

Israeli swimmer Guy Barnea, who took the bronze in the European Championships, finished 14th in the 100m backstroke semifinals, with a time of 51.92 seconds. Barnea, who holds the Israeli record, swam the event in 51.70 seconds during the preliminaries. His teammate, Jonathan Koplev, made the 26th place in the same race with 52.98 seconds. His main event is the 50m, and he will try to make the finals in that category.

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 12.16.10, 07:46
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