Israeli Swimmer Toumarkin Places 7th in 200m Backstroke

Despite not taking home a medal in the men’s 200-metre backstroke competition, Yakov Toumarkin gave Israelis a reason to celebrate on Thursday as he was just the second Israeli to compete in an Olympic swimming final.

The 20-year-old Russia-native reached the finals on Wednesday after placing fifth in his semi-final heat with a time of 1:57:33, an Israeli record

Toumarkin clocked in at 1:57:62 on Thursday to place seventh. American Tyler Clary took home gold in the competition while his countryman Ryan Lochte captured bronze.

Toumarkin’s finals appearance was the first by an Israeli since the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, in which Eitan Orbach placed eighth in the men’s backstroke finals.

In May, the first-time Olympian also became the first Israeli to win two medals in a single European Championship, when he won bronze in both the 100 m and 200 m backstroke in Hungary. At the 2011 World Aquatics Championships in China, he set a new Israeli long course swimming record of 1:58.21 in the 200 m backstroke competition.

Israel’s other Olympic hopes faded on Thursday as judoka Arik Ze’evi was eliminated from competition in less than a minute.

Tennis pair Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich, who upset defending gold medalists Roger Federer and Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland just a day earlier, were defeated by top-ranked American duo Mike and Bob Bryan.