Israel is sending its largest swimming delegation in years to the European Aquatics Championships in Paris, with 33 athletes spread across pool swimming, open water and artistic swimming — and, according to ONE, a single word sums up the ambition inside the camp: finals.
The championships open on July 31 with artistic swimming, followed by open water racing in the Seine from August 4-8. The pool programme, where most of Israel's medal hopes are concentrated, runs August 10-16 and features an 18-strong Israeli squad.
That group is headlined by Anastasia Gorbenko, the defending European champion in both the women's 200m and 400m individual medley after her sweep at the 2024 championships in Belgrade, where she also became the first Israeli woman to win a European swimming title. She arrives in Paris as the standard-bearer for a program that has grown rapidly in depth.
Also central to the pool team is Meiron Cheruti, who finished fourth in the 50m butterfly in Belgrade. ONE reports he wants to go one better this time: "I want to threaten a medal," he said. "I feel I deserve to be on the podium."
The pool roster also includes Denis Luktev, Daria Golobati, Tomer Shoster, Marc Teller, Okan Goldin, Yoav Romano and Daniel Kritchevsky among others, giving Israel a squad with realistic entrants in individual events and relays alike.
Beyond the pool, Israel is fielding an open water team featuring Ofek Adir, Yonatan Achdut, Emily Golos and Rebecca Androwicz in the Seine, while an artistic swimming squad that includes Noya Tzarfati, Ella Steiner and the Makmel sisters opens the entire championships on the meet's first day.
According to ONE, head coach Leonid Kaufman and sports director Yaakov Tomerkin have set the delegation a collective target of five final appearances across the three disciplines — a marker of how much the program's ambitions have risen since Gorbenko's breakthrough generation began delivering results on the continental stage.
The report also notes Israel's relay strength has grown alongside its individual stars, with a national record of 7:06.29 set by a relay quartet at this year's World Championships cited as evidence the depth extends well past the headline names.
With three disciplines competing across more than two weeks in and around the French capital, Paris will be the clearest test yet of whether Israeli swimming's recent surge can be sustained beyond Gorbenko alone — and whether Cheruti and others can turn semi-final appearances into the podium finishes they are now openly chasing.
