| Ziv Kalontarov | |
| Nicknames: | Zu |
| Nationality: | Israeli |
| Birth Date: | 1997 1, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Rishon LeZion, Israel |
| Height: | [1] |
| Weight: | 70 kg |
| Strokes: | 50 m and 100 m freestyle |
| Coach: | Gary Kalontarov |
| Show-Medals: | yes |
Ziv Kalontarov (also "Kalontorov", "Kaluntarov", and "Kalntrov"; Hebrew: זיו קלונטרוב; born 15 January 1997) is an Israeli Olympic swimmer and the reigning European Games champion in the 50 m freestyle.[2]
In April 2015, Kalontarov won the International School Sport Federation (ISF) Swimming World Schools Championship in both the 50 m freestyle (in 22.39) and the 100 m freestyle (in 50.49) in Poznań, Poland. At the age of 18 representing Israel at the 2015 European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, he won a gold medal with a European Games record time of 22.16 in the 50 m freestyle and thereby won the European Junior Swimming Championships, on 27 June 2015. His time in the final established a new senior Israeli national swimming record in the 50 m freestyle. It qualified him to represent Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Kalontarov was born in Rishon LeZion, Israel, to parents Gary and Tatyana.[1] [3] He attended Makif Omer High School, and his nickname is "Zu".[1]
When Kalontarov was young, his mother Tatyana trained him, and his father Gary is now his coach.[4] [5] [6] He trains about 21 hours per week.[4]
In July 2014, he came in sixth in the European Junior Championships Men's 50 m freestyle, and 8th in the Men's 100 m freestyle.[7]
Kalontarov won the 2015 International School Sport Federation (ISF) Swimming World Schools Championship in both the 50 m freestyle (in 22.39) and the 100 m freestyle (in 50.49) in Poznań, Poland, on 19 April 2015.[4]
At the age of 18, Kalontarov represented Israel at the 2015 European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan. He won a gold medal with a European Games record time of 22.16 in the 50 m freestyle and thereby won the European Junior Swimming Championships, on 27 June 2015, after also having the fastest times in both the heat and semi-final of the event.[8] [9] [10] [11] His time in the final established a new senior Israeli national swimming record in the 50 m freestyle, breaking the old record of 22.54 that he himself had set two months earlier, as well as a new personal record for Kalontarov and .16 of a second off the youth world record.[9] [12] [13] [14] [15] He also came in sixth in the 100 m freestyle final.[7] He was selected to carry the Israeli flag at the closing ceremony.[14]
The race result placed him in the top 20 in the world.[8] [16] It also qualified Kalontarov to represent Israel at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which he did.[9] [12]