Team Israel comes home with 3 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal from the 2022 Para Swimming World Championships in Portugal.
By Abigail Klein Leichman, Israel21c
Israeli athlete Ami Dadaon came home with three gold medals from the Para Swimming World Championships in Portugal, held June 12-18.
Dadaon finished first in the men’s 150-meter individual medley, 200-meter freestyle and 50-meter freestyle. He set a world record in the latter event.
Veronika Guirenko won a silver medal in the women’s 50-meter breaststroke event, and Mark Malyar bagged a bronze in the men’s 100-meter breaststroke.
Swimming coach Yaacov Beininson said that winning five medals was especially noteworthy given that Malyar had to end his participation early due to a shoulder injury; Tokyo gold medalist Iyad Shalabi was home with a broken arm; and teammate Ron Wolpert tested positive for Covid-19 upon arrival in Portugal.
More than 500 swimmers from 60 countries took part in the 2022 Para Swimming World Championships. This is the largest Paralympic event since the Tokyo Games in August 2021, where Team Israel won eight medals in swimming and one in rowing.