With 11 days left before the Tokyo Olympics, the Israeli national swimming team arrived in the Philippines over the weekend to train at the New Clark City.
The 15-member Israeli squad immediately headed to Capas, Tarlac on Monday under tight security as the swimmers prepare for the quadrennial meet under a training bubble for almost a week. They chose the Philippines to acclimatize with its hot weather, the same humidity they expect to experience in Tokyo, Japan.
Philippine Swimming Inc. president Lailani Velasco said they welcome the presence of the Israeli swimmers in the country as PSI will be hosting them until they leave for Japan on July 19.
“It is my pleasure to welcome Israel’s Olympic swimming team to our country. They are here to conduct their pre-Olympics training camp at the New Clark City Aquatics Center in Capas, Tarlac until July 19,” said Velasco.
Unfortunately, no member of the Philippine national swimming team will be allowed to get near them for the duration of their preparations.
Velasco said this is part of the security arrangements that both parties in the Philippines and Israel authorities agreed upon, and as part of COVID-19 restrictions.
Last week, swimming authorities in Israel revealed their roster, which is considered as the country’s largest-ever Olympic swimming team for the games.
This includes 12 pool swimmers, one open water swimmer and two artistic swimmers.
Seventeen-year-old rising star Anastasia Gorbenko, who will make her Olympic debut, will banner the Isaeli team with 29-year-old veteran Yakov Toumarkin, who will attend his third straight Games.
“I believe that this is the first time the Philippines is hosting an elite group of Olympic swimmers, it is even more memorable and significant that this is happening amidst a global pandemic. As such, a ‘sports quarantine bubble’ is being followed,” said Velasco.
Gorbenko made it to the team after winning the gold medal in the women’s 200 individual medley at the European Championships last May.
On the other hand, Toumarkin holds three individual LC European Championships to his name and was an Olympic finalist in the 200 backstroke during the London Games.
The Israelis will bring with them swimmers from the 2016 Olympic team, which includes Andi Murez, a Stanford alumna, who specializes in the women’s sprint freestyle events.
They also have Aviv Barzelay, a Texas A&M student athlete who will be the third female on the team. She was added after achieving the FINA ‘B’ cut in the 200-meter backstroke.
“We hope that our people and our facilities at the New Clark City Aquatics Center ultimately help these athletes acclimatize to the Asian time zone and weather conditions and, ultimately, prepare for the Olympics,” added Velasco.
The world-class New Clark City was the venue of the swimming competitions of the 30th Southeast Asian Games hosted by the Philippines in 2019.