Israel’s Kopelev books London 2012 ticket

Nine days after becoming the first ever Israeli swimmer to claim gold at the European Championships, Jonatan Kopelev booked his place at the London Olympics on Saturday, clocking a time of 54.38 seconds in the 100 backstroke in a competition in Slovenia. He and Guy Barnea were given one last chance to set the Olympic Qualifying Time of 54.40s on Saturday, and Kopelev did so by two hundredths of a second to reach his first Olympics, while Barnea will miss out on the Olympics after participating in the Beijing Games four years ago. Read more here on The Jerusalem Post.