Ziv Kalontarov

In April 2015, Kalontarov competed at a high-school world championship in Poznan, Poland, where he swam the 50-meter freestyle in 22.39 seconds.[2] The time broke the previous Israeli record of 22.54 seconds held by Or Sabatya, and Kalontarov had already beaten his own morning heats time of 22.58 seconds in the same competition.[2] He ranked first in Europe for his age group in the event, and the result met the qualifying standards for the European Games in Baku, the World Championships in Kazan, and the Olympic B standard for Rio 2016.[2]

Heading into the European Games in Baku shortly afterward, Kalontarov stated that the 50-meter freestyle was his main event and that he hoped to win gold there, while also targeting another medal in the 100-meter freestyle.[3] He needed to dip under 22.27 seconds in Baku to meet the full Olympic A qualifying standard for Rio.[3]

Kalontarov delivered one of the standout Israeli swimming performances of 2015 at the European Games held in Baku, Azerbaijan. In the 50-meter freestyle heats he recorded 22.62 seconds, the fastest qualifying time for the semifinal, and then clocked 22.61 seconds in the semifinal to advance to the final in first place.[4] In the final, he won in 22.16 seconds, leading throughout the race.[4] Italy's Giovanni Izzo finished second, 35 hundredths of a second behind him, and Alexey Bryansky placed third in 22.69 seconds.[4]

The winning time set a new Israeli record, bettering his own mark from Poznan by 23 hundredths of a second, and met the Olympic A qualifying standard for Rio 2016.[4] The performance left him just 16 hundredths short of the junior world record.[4] His father and coach, Geri Kalontarov, was reported to have sat with tears in his eyes after the final, unable to get up for several moments as those around him celebrated.[4] Ziv Kalontarov became the fifth Israeli swimmer to secure an Olympic berth for Rio and was chosen to carry Israel's flag at the closing ceremony of the European Games.[4] "I still haven't grasped at all that I will be in Rio, but slowly it will happen. The most important thing is that I improved my record by a lot, and I'm proud of myself for doing it," he said after the victory.[4]

Also at the Baku competition, Kalontarov competed in the 100-meter freestyle, advancing to the final after placing seventh overall in the preceding round with a time of 50.61 seconds.[5] In the final, he finished sixth in 50.33 seconds after turning second at the halfway mark in 28.95 seconds, but faded over the final 25 meters.[6] The time was nonetheless recorded as a new Israeli youth record and personal best.[6] He said the gap between himself and a medal had come down to hundredths of a second.[6]

Kalontarov competed at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro as part of a 48-athlete Israeli delegation described at the time as the country's largest ever at an Olympics.[7] His original goal had been to debut at the Tokyo 2020 Games, but his performance in Baku brought that debut forward by four years.[1]

In the 100-meter freestyle heats, he finished fifth in his heat in 50.65 seconds and 45th overall among 59 swimmers, failing to advance to the semifinals.[8] He also entered the 100-meter butterfly, where he finished sixth in his heat in 50.12 seconds and 45th overall among 59 swimmers in that event as well, without advancing.[9]

In the 50-meter freestyle — the event in which he had set his Israeli record in Baku — Kalontarov again recorded 22.16 seconds but did not qualify for the semifinals, and his Olympic campaign ended with that race.[10]