Israeli swimmer Yakov Toumarkin reached the finals of the men's 200m backstroke event after he came in fifth in his semi-final heat, stopping the clock at 1:57.33 seconds. The 20-year-old Toumarkin, who advanced from the eight place overall (finished his first round heat in third place), became the second Israeli swimmer to advance to an Olympic final. Eitan Orbach was the first Israeli swimmer to reach the finals (Sydney 2000 Games). Watch Toumarkin reach finals (Video courtesy of Channel 1) Earlier in the day Toumarkin set a new Israeli record in the 200 meter backstroke with the same time. "I began the completion with a bad feeling. I couldn't feel the water," he said later. For full coverage of the London Games click here "Maybe it was the excitement of competing in the Olympics for the first time. I was also affected by the atmosphere at the Olympic village- because of the Israeli athletes' bad start. But today everything clicked." Team member Gal Nevo failed to advance to the finals of the men's 200-meter individual medley after finishing the semi-finals heat in 1:59:17 minutes on Wednesday Nevo finished in 10th place following the two semi-final heats. In other Olympic news Wednesday, Israeli tennis duo Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich advanced to the quarter-finals of the men's doubles event after defeating former Olympic Swiss gold medalists Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3. Meanwhile, Gymnast Alex Shatilov finished first in artistic ground gymnastics and 12th in the tournament. Medal hopeful Lee Korzits finished Day Two of the eight-day Windsurfing competition in second place. The two-time world champion finished seventh in race three and second in race four respectively, building on first and third on Tuesday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter