Guy Barnea

Guy Marcos Barnea (Hebrew: גיא ברנע‎; born 9 September 1987 in Omer) is an Israeli swimmer who represented Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and has won three medals at the European Championships. As of March 2016, he held the Israeli records in the long course 50m backstroke (24.64), the short course 50m backstroke (23.27), and the long course 100m butterfly (51.36).

Guy Barnea
גיא ברנע

Personal information
Full name	Guy Marcos Barnea
Nationality	Israeli
Born	(1987-09-09) 9 September 1987 Omer, Israel
Height	5-10 (179 cm)[1]
Weight	161 lb (73 kg)[1]
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Club	Hapoel Jerusalem
Medal record European Championships (LC) 2010 Budapest 50 m backstroke 2012 Debrecen 50 m backstroke European Championships (SC) 2012 Chartres 50 m backstroke Maccabiah Games 2009 Israel 100 m backstroke Universiade 2011 Shenzhen 50 m backstroke 2009 Belgrade 50 m backstroke

Early life

Barnea was born and raised in Omer in southern Israel, to Eitan and Rachel Barnea, the oldest of three sons, and his brothers Nir and Or are also swimmers.[2][3][4] He began swimming at age six because his parents thought it would help his asthma.[5] For high school he attended Hof Hasharon.[2] He swam for club Hapoel Jerusalem, and was coached by Leonid Kauffman.[2]

College and swimming career

Barnea attended UC Berkeley, where he studied Business Administration and was an All-American for the Golden Bears.[5][6][7] He was named First-Team Pac-10 All-Academic in both 2009 and 2010.[2] He was a member of Cal's 2010 NCAA champion 200m free (anchor leg), 200m medley (backstroke leg), and 400m medley (backstroke leg) relay teams.[8][2] At the 2010 NCAA Swimming Championships, he came in third in the 100m backstroke with a time of 46.23.[2]

Barnea trained at The Race Club, a swim camp in Florida founded by Olympic swimmers Gary Hall, Jr. and his father, Gary Hall, Sr. train elite swimmers across the world in preparation for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. To train with it, one must either have been ranked in the world top 20 the prior three years or top three in their nation in the past year.[9]

Barnea competed on behalf of Israel at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.[10] He came in 15th in the Men's 100m backstroke with a time of 54.50.

He won a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke at the 2009 World University Games with a time of 25.09.[8][11][2] That year, Barnea set what at the time was the Israeli record in the 50m backstroke, with a time of 24.64.[12] At the 2009 Maccabiah Games, he won a gold medal in the Men's 100m backstroke with a time of 54.22, setting a new Maccabiah Games record and Israeli record.[13]

In 2010, Barnea won the long course European Aquatics Championships bronze medal in the 50m backstroke.[8][14] He won a silver medal in the 50m backstroke at the 2011 World University Games with a time of 25.21.[8][11][2]

In 2012, he won the long course European Aquatics Championships bronze medal in the 50m backstroke again, and a European Short Course Swimming Championships silver medal in the 50m backstroke with an Israeli record time of 23.46.[8][14]

In August 2014 at the Israeli national swimming championships Barnea won a gold medal in the 50m backstroke with a time of 25.12.[15] At the 2015 European Short Course Swimming Championships in December, he set a new national record of 51.36 in the 100m butterfly.[16]

As of March 2016, he held the Israeli records in the long course 50 backstroke (24.64), the short course 50 backstroke (23.27), and the long course 100 fly (51.36).[8] In August 2016 he won the gold medal at the Eindhoven Swim Cup (Dutch Championships) in the 100m backstroke, with a time of 55.19.[17]

At the 2017 Scottish National Championships, Barnea won the men’s 100m backstroke in a time of 54.49, close to his lifetime personal best of 54.29.[18]

At the 2017 Maccabiah Games, in the special 4x50m relay race between Israeli and American all-star teams, American Olympic champions Lenny Krayzelburg (four Olympic golds), Jason Lezak (four Olympic golds), and Anthony Ervin (three Olympic golds), with masters swimmer Alex Blavatnik, swam a time of 1:48.23 and defeated Israeli Olympians Barnea, Yoav Bruck, Eran Groumi, and Tal Stricker, who had a time of 1:51.25.[19]

See also

• List of Israeli records in swimming

References

1. Guy Barnea Bio, Stats, and Results | Olympics at Sports-Reference.com
2. "Guy Barnea - 2006-07 M Swimming & Diving Roster" - CalBears.com
3. "Israeli Sports". Jewish Sports Review. 8 (87): 20. October 2011.
4. "Jews in the Olympics: 63 Athletes, 7 Countries". Jewishinstlouis.org. Archived from the original on April 7, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
5. "Guy Barnea" | fina.org
6. "Video: Kreative Drills von Guy Barnea"
7. "2016 Big Ten Women Long Course Time Trials: 3 New Trials Cuts Posted"
8. "Watch: Israeli Olympian Guy Barnea Experiments With PVC Pipe Drills"
9. The World Team - The Race Club
10. "Israel at the 2008 Beijing Summer Games". Sports-reference.com. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020. Retrieved November 14, 2011.
11. "2011 WUGs Day 3: Feigen Takes Men's 100 Free, Costa-Schmid Nears National Record in 200 Free"
12. "Kopelev Posts the Fastest 50 Backstroke of 2016"
13. "Maccabiah Games: Guy Barnea Sets Israeli Record" - Swimming World News
14. "Guy Barnea wins silver medal at European Swimming Championship"
15. "Swimming nationals end on a high with Israeli record" - Jerusalem Post
16. "Israel claims 1st medal on opening day in Netanya" - Jerusalem Post
17. "Watch: Finals Race Videos From Day 5 Of The 2016 Eindhoven Swim Cup"
18. "O'Connor Records a 2:09.36 200 IM at Scottish Championships"
19. "Records fall as Olympians shine at Maccabiah Games," The Jerusalem Post.

External links

• Profile on CalBears.com