Mandel Earns Spot on Israeli Olympic Swim Team
7/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming & Diving, Olympics
Mandel set Israeli national records in the 100- and 200-meter butterfly races at the European Championships, becoming the first Israeli ever to break the 2:00.00 mark in the 200-meter butterfly. His time of 1:59.79 placed him 0.02 seconds out of 12th. His time met the IOC standard, but the Olympic Committee of Israel requires a swimmer to finish in the top 12 of the race to be eligible for a spot on the Olympic squad.
However, the OCI reviewed Mandel's case and added him to the team Sunday after confirming that European gold medalist Ioannis Drymonakos had failed a drug test, moving Mandel up one spot to 12th.
During the preliminaries of the 200-meter event, Mandel tied Paolo Villa of Italy with a time of 2:01.01, leading to a swim-off for the last spot in the finals. Mandel captured that spot by improving his time to 2:00.88.
Mandel then returned to the U.S. to earn his first two All-America accolades of his career at the 2008 NCAA Championships (March 27-29), swimming as a member of the fourth-place 400-yard medley relay and seventh-place 200-yard medley relay.
Mandel continues his training in Spain before he makes his trip to Beijing. The opening ceremony is Aug. 8, with the first four swimming events being held on Aug. 10.
Players Mentioned
